


Behind Blue Eyes

by DevilishxAngel



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Can Get Very Bloody, Claustrophobia, F/M, Fear, Horror, Matter of Life and Death, Panic Attacks, Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, the walking dead Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-23 12:39:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 114,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10719510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DevilishxAngel/pseuds/DevilishxAngel
Summary: Daughter of an Army Ranger, raised by her grandma since her mom left when she was young. Kayleigh Anne Parker lived a pretty normal life, before the apocalypse started, with a job and her hobbies. With fair share of ups and downs in life, Kayleigh only trusted 2 people from which one passed away years ago and she doesn’t know if the other one is still alive. People always underestimated her, but that didn’t stop her to prove them otherwise. Now that the dead are roaming the earth, she is determined to find her father. What happens when she joins a group with a familiar face? Will she learn to trust someone else? Will she reveal the past hidden behind blue eyes?





	1. Interstate 85

**Author's Note:**

> A/N I do not own any characters or storylines from The Walking Dead. Nor do I own the pictures that I use ( They just show how I see things in my head)  
> I do own the characters I added and the storyline changes I made.  
> I want to thank a dear friend of mine that helps me a lot with the grammar (I'm Dutch) and for helping me with the creative part. I couldn't have done this without her.  
> Warning: This story will contain strong language, sexual references and dark/bloody/horror content just like the show.

I tightened my grip on the wheel while I nervously looked down at the meter. It was at its lowest point for quite some time now and I hoped with every fiber in my body that my car would last for much longer now. I needed to know if my dad was okay, after what I saw happened to Atlanta. I just couldn't believe they just bombed the place, after the media and even my dad told me that that was a safe place to go in this crisis. When I first heard the news about this outbreak I honestly thought it was a joke. I mean come on… a freaking zombie apocalypse? Of course nobody called it like that, they just simply said it was a virus outbreak and everybody needed to stay indoors. I was happy that I just did my groceries the day that news came out. A few days after that, I got a call from my dad, saying I needed to pack as many as I could carry and hurry to Atlanta.

  
After what happened to Atlanta, I just turned around and went straight to Fort Benning, that was where my dad was stationed. It frustrated me that he didn’t pick up his damn phone anymore, but most of all it worried me. Not long after my 30th attempt of getting a hold on my dad, my phone died. I never understood why he never told me to come to Fort Benning to begin with, why sent me to Atlanta? I also hated how much time I’d lost, I got stuck in a massive traffic jam when everyone wanted to escape Atlanta. I stayed with a small group for a couple days, but I managed to escape when the camp was overrun. I feared I was the only one that got away…

  
“No…no…no” I cried out softly as my car started to make funny noises and slowing down. After a few feet my car completely stopped and I smacked the steering wheel a couple times.   
“Shit!” I groaned. I was still a long way from Fort Benning and it definitely wasn't safe outside with all those things roaming around. I sat there for a couple of minutes thinking about my next move. I knew I was close to the highway, there must be someone willing to take me further. I initially avoided the highway because my bet was that more people would use it and since I grew up around here I chose a dirt road close to the highway since I was driving my dad's truck and I knew it could handle the terrain. I looked around me and thankfully saw nothing in the woods that surrounded the dirt road. I regretted my chosen road to Fort Benning. Because you never know how many of those zombie things were out there. I sighed while turning in my seat to grab my big sports bag from the back seat and placing it on the passenger's seat. As I looked inside my bag, I felt so unprepared for this shit. I just packed some clothes, a couple of cereal bars, a few water bottles, some canned food and some hygiene products like shampoo and that kind of stuff. But I did feel grateful that I was paranoid enough to pack some of my training gear, two hunting knives my dad owned and a small medical kit. Both knives came with a holster, one I could attach to one of my belt loops and the other one had a leg holster. While mentally preparing myself to go outside, I attached both knives on me. I grabbed my jacket from the backseat and threw it in my bag before closing it. I kept checking everything multiple times before realizing that I was stalling.

  
I took a final look around before grabbing my bag and softly opening my car door. I stepped outside and swung my bag over my head so it was resting on my back. I immediately grabbed the first knife out of the holster that was hanging on one of the loops and grasped it tightly in my hand. I started walking slowly, keeping a close attention to my surroundings while my free hand was keeping my bag in its place. I had been face to face with one of those zombies a day after the Atlanta bombing. I was on my own and I was cornered by it, I kept stabbing it but it just didn’t die. That’s when somebody came out of nowhere and shot it in its head. He explained to me that you must destroy the brain in order to kill it, I stayed with him and a couple others before we got overrun and I lost them all in the chaos.

  
My heart was pounding in my chest, I used to love the woods, but now I longed for an open space so I could see those fuckers coming before they could see me. I just hoped I was walking straight ahead so I would reach the highway soon instead of walking around in circles in these damn woods. After quite a long walk through the woods, I started to see a clearing in front of me. I picked up my pace, but still watched everything around me, I felt lucky as hell that nothing had crossed my path yet. I sighed in relieve when I saw the first car and by now I was running to the highway.

  
As I reached the highway my jaw dropped in disbelieve, numerous cars that were abandoned blocked both sides of the highway. I knew the world was a shitty place right now, but I never expected it to be this bad. I walked in between cars hoping to find someone alive. I almost reached the other side of the highway, but still nothing. I began to lose hope until I saw something move in a car a few feet from me. I slowly walked up and looked closer into the car, my heart skipped a beat when all of a sudden something not human anymore started to pound on the car window from the inside trying to get to me. While slowly taking a few steps back I realized that I was doomed in this place, there was no way I was getting to Fort Benning from here. Even if I could find a car with gas and a key, there was no way I could move the cars out of the way on my own before more of those creatures started to come here. I looked around and just started walking between the cars hoping that the blockage would be less somewhere down the road. Still holding my knife I was more cautious now than in the woods. I just had to go on my own, why didn't I just stay with the two guys I met before Atlanta blew up. No, I just had to be stubborn and go on my own to Fort Benning. Although looking around me right now…I was kind of glad I didn't follow the crowd. It wasn't long before I heard something. It wasn't the sound of a zombie thank god, but it was a scream what sounded like coming from a child.

  
Without thinking twice I started to run into the woods hoping to find the source of the scream. It didn't take long before I found a little girl who had pushed herself against a tree as a zombie walked up to her. I threw my bag on the ground and sprinted towards the zombie and jumped on his back while plunging my knife into its skull. The body went limp and I let myself fall to the ground with the zombie underneath me. I looked up at the little girl who looked terrified and I smiled.   
“It's okay little girl, I'll get you out of here” she was still standing against the tree and I heard moaning sounds getting closer. I ran to my bag and slung it back on my body and ran towards the girl, grabbed her hand and start pulling her with me. I saw zombies coming from all around us and I knew I had to think of something before we were completely surrounded.   
“Can you climb little girl?” I asked while looking at her and she nodded fast while on the edge of bursting out in tears.

  
I looked around searching for a tree that we both could easily climb in to. I sighed in relieve when I spotted a good one. We reached it and I lifted her up to give her a good head start to climb. I turned around to see how long we got before we were surrounded and I spotted one that was getting to close for my comfort. I walked up to it and gave a hard kick towards a tree before jamming my knife into its head. I walked back to the tree and started climbing too. Once we got high enough I looked at her as she sat on a thick branch next to mine. While looking down I noticed we were pretty covered by the leaves, but still I could hear the moaning noises underneath us. I looked back to the girl and put one finger to my mouth as a sign that she should keep quiet. I opened my bag and grabbed my bottle of soap, I didn't want to throw anything away, but this might be a change to get those things away from the tree. I slowly moved on the branch so I could put one hand on the tree for balance before throwing the bottle as far as I could.

  
Not long after that, I heard them shuffling away from the tree and I sighed in relieve allowing me to breathe normally again. I looked back to the girl who was looking in shock at me, her eyes still full of fear.   
“What's your name girl?” I whispered hard enough for her to hear.   
“S-s-hopia” she said softly, her voice trembling.   
“Nice to meet you, I'm Kayleigh” I said with a soft smile on my face and I saw her relax just a little bit.   
“How did you end up in the woods?” I knew we would have to stay in this tree for a little while because it was getting darker and there was no way in hell I was walking through these woods in the dark.   
“I got lost and I couldn't find my mom anymore” she lowered her head and I had a feeling she was about to cry. I put my knife back in its holster and looked up to find a branch strong enough to carry my bag for the night. I found one and before hanging my bag I took a bottle of water and two cereal bars out of it. I then carefully climbed over to Sophia and sat behind her with my back against the tree and my legs on either side of the tick branch.   
“Here you must be hungry and thirsty”. She took one cereal bar out of my hand with a slight hesitation and started eating as soon as I started to eat mine.

  
We sat there for what must be hours by now, Sophia was asleep, she had her back against my chest and I had wrapped my arms around her tightly preventing her from falling. Although I was getting tired myself I forced myself to stay awake, this was the second night in a row I didn’t sleep. I felt somehow responsible for the girl sleeping in my arms, before she fell asleep we talked a bit. I learned she was with a group of people when a herd came and she ran into the woods. One of the members, Rick if I remember correctly had gone after her, but they lost each other. She ran and ran hoping to get back to the highway before I found her. As I fought my tiredness I thought about a plan on finding her group. Maybe we were lucky and they still were on the highway. Damn, this staying awake thing is really hard, I hadn’t slept last night because there were just too many sounds around me and I didn’t feel safe enough in my truck by myself. While thinking about what I’ve been through the last couple days I just stared right ahead of me watching as the wind was moving the leaves.

  
After a while one of the first sunrays hit my face and I started to see the things around me again. Softly I woke up Sophia and told her I would go check if it was safe to go. I climbed down a bit until I could look at the ground. While looking around I spotted one zombie that I could easily take down since his back was towards me. I climbed up again and grabbed my bag.   
“Okay, I'll go down first and when it's safe for you to come down I'll whistle okay?” she simply nodded and started to climb down. When I almost reached the ground I grabbed my knife while slightly turning around. I counted to three in my head before pushing myself from the tree onto the walker. It's started to fight to get to me and I was glad I was on top of his back. I stabbed the brain and slowly stood up looking around. Once I absolutely saw nothing wandering around I whistled. Shortly after that Sophia was standing close to me, looking around in fear. I grabbed her hand again and started walking. I had a really good feeling that we could actually find her group when I noticed we were getting surrounded.   
“Shit.. Sophia run!!” I screamed and we both start running for our lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a picture of how I see Kayleigh Anne Parker:  
> [](http://photobucket.com/)


	2. Weakness

We were running for quite some time now, but there were still zombies everywhere. We must have been running around in circles because I still couldn't see the highway and it frightened me. We were lost, I noticed Sophia was slowing down a bit and her breathing was out of control.  
“I.. can’t “ she muttered and I looked around, but there were, just too many for me to take on by myself. There was only one thing I could do at this moment and I just picked her up and kept running. I was glad she was so small, but still it took me a lot of strength to keep up the pace with her in my arms. I just had to get us to safety and then I could rest. My lungs were starting to burn now, I knew I was in good shape, but the running in combination with no sleep was really taking its toll.

  
Then everything went wrong, something grabbed my ankle and we both fell to the ground. Sophia was in front of me on the ground and the creature that pulled be down was now on its way to eat me.  
“Sophia Go!! I'll catch up!” Sophia stood up and ran away. I turned around and the zombie crawled on top of me, my heart was beating uncontrollably in my chest. I lifted my arm and pushed it under its chin to keep the zombie's mouth away from my body. He was really putting up a fight, which made it harder for me to reach for my knife that was a few inches out of my reach. I couldn't reach it and I felt fear taking over realizing I wasn't going to win this, but then I remembered the other knife on my leg, but the zombie was lying on that leg. I heard more moans coming closer and I knew I had to hurry. With almost all the strength I had left in my body I pushed the creature off of me, grabbed my knife and dove on top of it. I slammed my knife a couple of times in the head before trying to catch my breath. I looked up and saw that there were more and more coming. I jumped up grabbed my other knife from the ground and ran in the same direction as Sophia.

  
My legs were burning, but I had to keep going it wasn’t going to end for me like this!  
“Sophia!!” I screamed slightly in panic, where was she? She couldn’t have gone that far, could she? I looked up in trees and in bushes, but no luck. I looked around and saw that I was alone with nothing close to me. I leaned against a tree putting away one of my knives and I pushed my hand against my chest as I tried to catch my breath. I grabbed a bottle of water out of my bag and almost drank it all. The weight of the bag was killing me right know, but I couldn’t leave it behind. That wasn’t an option.

  
I must have been standing there for a long time because I was taken out of my trail of thoughts by a groan close to me. I looked up and stood face to face with a zombie. As I took a step to the side, I tripped and I felt a slight pain in my back when I fell down. Again I had a zombie on top of me, I was really running out of luck by now. After a good struggle with the creature on top of me, I finally managed to stab him and his body went limb on top of me. The bag felt really uncomfortable underneath me and I'm sure I was going to have a bruise on my back from the impact of the fall. I pushed the body off of me and felt gross. It was for the first time I noticed how filthy I was, my clothes were stained with dirt and zombie blood and my arms and face were covered with the same shit. As I slowly crawled back up, I grabbed the tree again. All this running and fighting was really beating me down and I was starting to feel dizzy. But I knew I didn't have a time to rest yet because Sophia was still out there somewhere alone with nothing to defend herself. Why didn't I give her one of my knives? At least then she would have had something to fight back with.

  
I grabbed my bottle of water of the ground and drank every drop of it before throwing it back in my bag. While walking I kept calling out her name, but this time in a softer tone, not wanting to attract more zombies my way. My body started to tremble and my back felt sorer with every step I took. I ignored it, ignored all the signs my body gave me to stop. I had more important things to do than taking care of myself. It was my fault Sophia was out there on her own again and it was not an option to give up on her. I picked up my pace while looking around for signs of Sophia. How could I ever have been so stupid and just send her running on her own?!

  
I was stopped in my tracks once again, when I came across three zombies this time. I had to kill them, there was no way around it. I sighed and pulled the bag over my head, but not dropping it to the ground just yet. I swung it hard and threw it at one of them; the zombie fell down and took another with it. Thank god, I just had to focus on one right now. I tightened my grip on my knife and let the creature come closer to me. After a couple of pushes and me dodging his teeth, I accomplished in killing him. I was going for the last two, who were fighting each other to get to me first. I jabbed the first one in the head and the second one was soon to follow. I fell to my knees and kept stabbing him in the head even though he was already dead. I screamed in frustration while all the blood splattered all over me. While swiping my hand over my forehead, only smearing the blood further over me, I was breathing heavily. I crawled back up, grabbed the band of the bag and dragged it behind me for a few feet. All my energy was drained and I had no strength left anymore. I let my body collapse against a tree and tears fell down my face while I pulled my bag close to me. I failed Sophia and I failed myself not having any more strength left to go on. My vision was getting blurry not only because of my tears, but also because of my weariness. I felt my mind slipping away and before I knew it everything went black.

  
I heard a lot of moaning and groaning around me, but I just couldn't open my eyes yet. My head hurts pretty bad and so was my back. As I slowly opened my eyes everything was still a bit blurry, but I saw enough to see it was still daytime. Or my worst fear it was daytime again…I had no idea for how long I have been sitting here, still finding it weird that I was still alive. As my vision got better, I was shocked to see what was around me. I took a hold of my knife that was on the ground underneath my hand, while zombies surrounded me. How the hell am I getting out of here…there was no way I could kill them all by myself, then I realized they were not paying attention to me at all, they just walked by me like I wasn't even here. Was this a dream? No it couldn't be, I wouldn't be able to feel pain if it was a dream. I looked down at myself and I was still covered with all the dirt and blood, was that the reason? I slowly pushed myself up against the tree, I still felt weak, but I didn't want to risk anything. Plus I still needed to find Sophia; I was still determined to find her. I tried to sling my bag back on without making too much noise. They still ignored me, I still couldn't believe it.

  
After checking if my second knife was still in place, I started walking again, but this time as slow as the zombies around me. I didn't want to catch their attention so I needed to blend in, while finding a way to get as far away from them as possible. As soon as I was alone I picked up my pace again, I needed to find her fast! But I was fearing for the worst scenario right now. I had no idea for how long I've been out here and no idea for how long Sophia and I were apart. That's when I saw something in the corner of my eye. My mouth dropped while my hand reached out to a bush were a small piece of blue fabric was hanging on. It looked exactly like the color Sophia was wearing. I was close on her trail! All hope came back at once, just because of a little piece of fabric. I carved a small ‘x’ in the tree next to it, that way I knew if I came across the spot again. I looked around the spot for a little longer hoping to find more clues, but I wasn't an expert in tracking and honestly I had no idea what I was looking for.

  
While still looking for signs on the ground, my head snapped up when I heard something in the distance. It wasn't zombies, it was a sound I couldn't quite figure out. Could it be Sophia? I held my knife high, ready to attack, while walking in the direction I thought the sound came from. I tried staying low to keep out of sight. After just a few feet, I came to a small clearing and in the middle of it was a man, his back was turned to me. He was wearing a plaid shirt with no sleeves and in one of his hands was a crossbow. He was pulling an arrow out of a zombies head, was that what I heard? I quickly hid behind a tree when I noticed the man was turning around. I just didn't know if I could trust him yet, or if there were more men around here. I was looking around, but saw nobody; I carefully tried to look around the tree to see if the man was still there. I immediately turned my head back when the man was still facing me, I stepped on a twig when trying to find my balance with my weak body, heavy bag and crouched position. Silently cursing myself, the man spoke.

  
“Show yourself” The voice was harsh and it sounded demanding, but that wasn't what caught my attention. I've heard that voice before.. I just knew it, but I couldn't place it. I kept thinking, but nothing came to mind. I felt my legs trembling again; I knew I couldn’t outrun him in this state my body was in. It scared me a bit that I didn't know where I heard that voice before. Did I hear it in a good or bad situation? “Don't let me repeat myself or I’ll put an arrow in your head” The familiar voice spoke again. I guess I had no choice; I slowly pushed myself up against the tree.

  
“Okay…okay…” I answered back, realizing for the first time how sore my throat was. I held both my hands above my head, one open and empty and in the other still my knife. Slowly I took a few steps away from the tree and the first thing I saw was a crossbow pointed strait at me. “Throw the knife down, including the one on your leg” I just nodded as I kept looking at the weapon that was still aimed for what I guess was my head. As I slowly took a few steps closer to him I threw both my knives in front of his feet. I wanted to speak, but nothing came out of mouth. I still couldn’t see the man’s face completely still being covered by his weapon. I cleared my throat, but before I could speak he demanded another thing.

  
“The bag on the ground to” I did as he asked, but never taking my eyes of him while I kept thinking from where I knew his voice.  
“Can you lower your crossbow now?” I asked my voice hoarse, but he kept his crossbow in place. My arms started to feel heavy above my head and I decided to slowly turn on my spot to let him show I had nothing else on me.  
“I don’t have any other weapons on me, I promise” As I faced the archer again, I saw his shoulders relax a bit. Slowly he lowered his crossbow and the first thing I saw were his eyes. They looked puzzled like he was trying to figure something out. I slowly put my arms down to, glad to have them hanging by my side as they were getting heavier by the second.

  
I could now see his face and my mouth dropped and a small chuckle escaped my mouth.  
“Daryl?” I asked in relieve to see a face I met when this shit had just happened. He looked at me questionable and took a step closer, looking me up and down. I probably looked like shit at least that was the way I felt, so I didn’t blame him for not recognizing me. His eyes widened slowly when looking in to mine. A small smile formed on my lips as I realized he knew who I was again.

  
“Parker?” he asked while throwing his crossbow on his back. I nodded and I was still smiling, I probably looked like some kind of lunatic right now.  
“What the hell happened to you?” even though he was just five steps away from me his voice sounded distance this time. My vision was getting lighter and not long after that, he was pretty much the only thing I could see, but I couldn’t even see him clearly. I saw his lips moving and I took a step closer in a hope I could hear what he just said to me. My body felt heavy and the next thing I knew I went limb, but instead hitting the cold hard ground something else was underneath me. Everything around me was light and it felt like I was floating just before I felt my mind slipping away again.


	3. Road to Atlanta

_"Yes dad" I said while talking on the phone while walking towards my bedroom._  
_"I love you too, be careful and see you soon" I hung up and put the phone on the charger before grabbing my sports bag out of my closet. It has been two days since the media blew up about this virus that was spreading worldwide._

_My dad was at Fort Benning where he was stationed, he called me two days ago and said to stay inside for the time being. Now the situation was worse and he told me to go to Atlanta, saying there was a refugee camp and it was the safest for me to go there. He also told me he would go that way in a few days. I walked back to my closet and just started to grab clothes and throwing it in my bag. I had no idea what to pack because I had no idea for how long I would be in Atlanta. I made sure I grabbed a bit of everything, something for warmer days and something for the colder nights. I walked downstairs straight to the kitchen with my bag hanging on my shoulder. Grabbing bottles of water and cans of food, I looked inside my fridge and grabbed the few things I had left._

_I put the bag on the dining table and thought while staring at my bag. I went back upstairs and entered my bathroom grabbing things like shampoo and stuff and putting it in a small bag. I turned off the lights after taking a few towels and walked down the stairs again. With my bag hanging on my shoulder I went to the living room. I just looked around me, watching every detail of the house I share with my dad. Most people laughed, mostly behind my back, when I told them I still lived with my father because I was 28 years old, but my dad was hardly ever home, being an US Army Ranger. I cherished every moment I have with him simply because I never knew when he is called away again or not coming back home at all. Since I never really knew my mom, she left when I was 6 years old and therefore my father was my everything, I was raised by him and my grandmother. Whenever my father was away she was there to take care of me._  
_I walked towards the family pictures and looked at my favorite one, my 12th birthday with all of us together. It was the first birthday my father was home since my mom left. God, I missed grandma…._

_Without hesitation I grabbed the picture and softly placed it in my bag, I turned around, grabbed my leather jacket and walked to the front door. My hand was resting on the doorknob while I was thinking about if I had left anything important behind, I dropped the bag and ran up the stairs._  
_How on earth could I forget my phone?! While putting the phone in my front pocket and the charger in the back pocket of my jeans I looked around the room. In the corner of my room I saw my training gear. Questioning myself whether I was going to need it or not, I walked over and grabbed it anyway. I looked to my side and saw my showcase, it had all kinds of movie memorabilia and some beautiful fragile artwork in it. But on the top shelf were my most priced possessions._  
_Two pairs of aluminum Nun chucks and a set of 9 red and black colored kunai, I looked at them thinking about taking them too. I knew how to use both of them, well the training versions, these were for decoration, although the kunai were really sharp. I opened the showcase and put them in their wooden cases and took them with me._

_My next stop was my father’s room and I opened the drawers of his nightstands and grabbed his two hunting knives. Before I went downstairs again, I was standing in the bathroom ones more. Since I packed all those weapons, still not sure why, but my gut told me they might come in handy. I opened the medical cabinet and grabbed my bottle of prescription painkillers and the medical kit. As soon I was at the front door again I started putting away the weapons in the bag and covered them with my clothing and towels. I still felt like a crazy person for taking all of that, but I somehow felt safer with them then without them._

_I walked outside, my keys firmly in my hand and took a look around while walking over the truck my dad and I also shared. My street was filled with slight chaos and panic, people trying to stuff their car as full and fast as possible, kids screaming in misunderstanding and fear. While looking at the overfull cars I started doubting myself for taking only one bag. I opened the car door and threw my bag and jacket on the backseat. Never taking my eyes of off my neighbors and all of the sudden I hear my dad’s voice inside my head._  
_“Take only what you can carry” I whispered softly to myself. I looked away and stepped into the car, throwing my charger next to my bag and my phone next to me on the passengers seat. I took a deep breath while taking one last look in my rearview mirror before starting the truck and driving away full speed._

_I drove towards the first gas station I had in mind, it wasn’t the nearest one, but I just figured that everyone was going to the closest one to their homes. This gas station was a bit remote and I just hoped it wasn’t overrun with people yet. To my surprise it wasn’t that crowed as I feared, I still had to wait in line for a pump, but the line wasn’t that long. I just listened to my radio, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm of the music while trying to ignore all the shouting outside. I just waited patiently for my turn and didn’t even look the cranky people around me in the eye. They were all shouting to each other, either to hurry up with pumping gas or about stuff the other forgot to bring with them._

_It was my turn and just filled my tank with gas while looking around me quickly noticing some people starting to panic. I paid with my ATM card and just parked my car directly next to the shop. I remembered on my way here that I didn’t pack any snacks, in case I didn’t have time to stop driving and opening a can for dinner. I just hoped Earl still had some stuff left, I walked inside the shop after locking my car. It felt a bit risky leaving my car unattended with all these people around me, but I just had to look._  
_I greeted Earl with a smile and a short wave; he smiled back while busy helping people at the counter. I knew Earl for a couple of years now; I used to work here on the weekends and some nights in the week during my college years. I walked through the aisles and saw that most shelves were empty, as I feared, but I was in luck I found a couple boxes of cereal bars and on my way to the counter I grabbed some candy bars._

_While waiting in line I had to contain my laughter because of the woman before me. She was yelling at Earl because so many shelves where empty, he did his best to explain it to the woman, but she wouldn’t listen. She threw some cash on the counter and stormed off with a few supplies in her hands._  
_“Hey little red! Long time no see! Off to Atlanta I guess?” I nodded and placed my stuff on the counter._  
_“Yes sir, obeying my daddy’s orders. How about you? Why aren’t you at home packing up your life?” I asked while I reached for my ATM card again._  
_“That’s what I have a wife for” he said laughing._  
_“When she’s done she will be picking me up, and I thought why not help people get to Atlanta in the meantime” he said smiling to me and putting my supplies in a plastic bag. He grabbed my hand and pulled me a bit closer._  
_“Listen darling, be careful out there. There are a lot of crazy people out there waiting for a lonely girl like yourself. Please be safe” I nodded with a smile on my face._  
_“Of course I will! But don’t forget what I’m capable of” I said with a proud grin._  
_“Good luck Earl! And see you in Atlanta I guess!” we smiled at each other for one last time and I left the shop._

_The chaos outside was starting to subside as people were leaving in full speed. I heard some cursing and loud bang noises. I looked to my right and saw a man fighting with the fending machine._  
_“Let me help” I said when I reached him; he gave me a confused look. I started smacking the machine on different spots on the side and ended with a soft kick to the front. The last candy bar fell down and the man quickly grabbed it._  
_“Thanks I guess” the man said with his husky voice and his southern accent._  
_“You’re welcome, old machines like this have a habit of jamming from time to time. Plus this one over here loves to keep people hungry” I said with a smile on my face. He chuckled before speaking again._  
_“How come you’re in such a good mood, compared with the rest of the world who are losing their mind in this chaos?” I just shrugged_  
_“I guess someone has to light up the mood a bit around here” I said still smiling at him, he was a pretty good looking man._

_He was about to respond when another low southern voice interrupted him._  
_“Come on lil’ brother, put it back in your pants, we’re leavin’” a man slightly bigger and with more gray hair slapped him on the shoulder while passing us. He suddenly stopped and turned around to look at me._  
_“Well hello there beauty, what’s your name?” I sighed listening to his flirting tone. I looked to the other man_  
_“I’m Kayleigh Anne Parker” before anything else could be said, I felt an arm snake around my neck. I looked to my side and was face to face with the older one of the two._  
_“Well I see you met my baby brother Daryl, but more importantly my name is Merle Dixon” Cockiness dripping from his words as he reached for my hand and wanting to kiss it. I pulled my hand and my face turned serious._  
_“I’ll give you 3 seconds to take your arm of me” I said all the friendliness in my voice gone. He just laughed while I counted down, he moved closer, I was at zero and I dropped the plastic bag on the ground. I jammed my elbow to his chin, grabbed his arm turning it with speed behind his back and forcing him on his knees._  
_“I warned you,” I whispered in his ear before pushing him to the ground. I picked my bag up from the ground and looked at Daryl who had an amused grin on his face while looking at his brother on the ground._  
_“See you around Daryl” I said before winking at him and walking back towards my car and getting on the road to Atlanta._

 

I felt like I was floating, my feet weren't on the ground, but still I could feel I was moving. I wanted to open my eyes so I could see what was going on, but I couldn't. I heard twigs snapping underneath me, I was definitely not alone since the sounds were staying with me. Was someone carrying me? Who? Damn my body felt heavy, my head was pounding and I'm sure all this thinking wasn't doing anything good to my head. I heard voices around me, but I couldn’t figure out what they were saying. This frustrated me a lot! I wanted to say something so badly, or at least move to let them know I was awake. But most of all I wanted to open my eyes and see what was going on around me and where I was.

Suddenly I felt no more wind around me and more voices were around me.  
“Get her out of those dirty clothes” was all I could hear, or at least I thought I heard that. My legs were going underneath me and it felt like someone was putting me down.  
“Please hold her a little bit longer” was said by a female voice. I felt a chill running over my body, while something wet went across my arms and face.  
“Looks like she’s not bitten” the same female voice said.  
“Get her on the bed” a man’s voice this time.

Once again I felt like floating before my body touched something soft. Finally, I managed to open my eyes a bit, but everything around me was blurry and I still couldn’t see where I was or whom I was with. I felt something sting my arm and I grunted. What the hell was that, with all the strength that I felt was left in my body I tried pulling my arm away. I almost succeeded, but something heavy and warm was keeping my arm down.

What the fuck was going on? My vision started to get clearer a bit and I looked right into someone’s eyes, eyes that looked so familiar. The man looked me straight into my eyes. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. That’s when everything went blurry again and I heard a loud ringing noise in my ears. It hurts so much! It felt like my head was about to explode! I felt my eyes slowly closing again even though I fought the keep them open, my surroundings starting to disappear.  
“Is she going to be okay?” was the last thing I heard before my mind slipped away again.

 

_Damn this traffic, I knew everyone wanted to go to Atlanta, but I was stuck here for more than 30 minutes now and it frustrated me. I rolled down my window and let the cool breeze in the truck. I turned my radio up a bit and closed my eyes enjoying my music. I softly hummed along with the songs and just forgot about the world right now. I heard someone knock on my car_

_“Knock Knock, anybody home?” I said as I recognized the voice, I opened one eye and looked at a grinning Merle Dixon. “_   
_What? Came back for more?” I asked, his grin disappeared on his face and was replaced with an annoyed look for a moment and I closed my eyes again._   
_"Yo Merle! Looks like we’ll be stuck here for a while” as soon as I heard that voice my eyes were open again and I saw Merle looking behind him._   
_“Looks like we’re stuck here together darling” he said while turning his attention back to me._

_By then Daryl was standing next to his brother. I felt a glimpse of joy seeing Daryl again, too bad his scumbag brother was here too. I turned my radio off and looked at the brothers._   
_“So, there’s no way were moving any time soon?” I asked a bit disappointed._   
_“Nope, I just looked up ahead, most people got out of their cars, and there’s rumors that they won’t let any more people in the city” I sighed as I climbed out of my truck._   
_“Great” I murmured while running a hand through my long hair. I leaned back against the car and crossed my arms. Merle came closer to me and had his flirty grin still plastered on his face._   
_“I can think of something to kill some time” I looked at him and chuckled_   
_“Do you remember what happened the last time you touched me? Because I’m happy to help you remember” He took a step back, but his grin never disappeared._   
_“Trust me, you will change your mind” he said before turning and walking away._

_“He can’t take a hint, can he?” I asked while looking at Daryl, he just shrugged._   
_“That’s Merle for ya” we both laughed a bit. I crawled on top of the hood of my truck and looked at Daryl._   
_“You can join me, I promise I won’t knock you on your ass” I said teasingly and he joined me._

_We talked about simple stuff for a while, even Merle returned and managed to behave a bit. Hours went by and it was getting darker. Out of nowhere there were loud noises. I looked up and saw people going towards the woods. The brothers and I decided to go take a look as well when we saw three helicopters flying over our heads. When we got to the edge, my mouth dropped in shock. They were bombing Atlanta?! People around us starting to panic and were rushing back to their cars. In the chaos and panic I lost the Dixon brothers, but to my surprise I managed to turn my car around, it was still chaos on the road. But I was happy that I was moving, moving away from Atlanta. My phone was stuck against my ear as I tried to reach my dad; I had made up my mind. I was going to Fort Benning and nothing was going to stop me until I knew my dad was all right._

 

Thank god everything had just been a dream, I thought as I felt a bed underneath me and I was covered with sheets. Slowly reality sunk in, it didn’t feel like my bed though. Both my arms were outside the sheets and in one of them I felt a needle. Oh crap, was I in a hospital? I started to force my eyes open, but it took a couple tries before they opened.

I looked around, this was definitely not my room, but it didn’t look like a hospital room either. I looked to the right and saw a chair with all my dirty clothes and my bag was in front of it on the ground next to my combat boots. When I saw the filth on my clothes I realized I had fainted again, but how the hell did I end up here?  
Then, I remembered seeing Daryl in the woods, he probably brought me here. Where was he? I took a good look around again and saw that the room was neatly decorated. Like nothing happened to the world, this place was untouched.

I looked down and all I could see was my bra, with my free arm I lifted up the sheets a little and saw that I was just in my panties. Well at least I wasn’t naked and they sort of cleaned me, probably looking for bite marks….  
“How is she?” I heard a voice say, I looked towards the door that wasn’t completely closed. The voice came from the hallway, but I knew it wasn’t Daryl’s voice.  
“She will be alright, she was just exhausted and dehydrated that’s all. She will probably be sore for a day or two especially her back. But nothing serious” A clearly older voice answered.  
“What about her bag?” a woman’s voice spoke up. There was a silence for a couple seconds.  
“What am I the only one worried about what’s in her bag? What if it’s filled with guns?” the same voice ranted on. I wanted to say something, but noticed my throat was as dry as a desert. I looked to the bed stand and saw a glass of water, I reached out and grabbed it. After I took a sip, I wanted to place the glass back up on the nightstand, but it fell out of my hands and shattered in pieces on the ground.


	4. Guilt

Within moments the three voices I heard outside, were inside the room. I quickly covered myself and tried to sit up straight.   
“Damn!” I muttered when I felt the pressure in my head, it felt like a really bad hangover. I raised my hand against my head, while the other still held the sheets in place and I closed my eyes in pain.   
“The headache is from dehydration, that’s why you’re on an IV” I opened my eyes again and looked at the man that spoke to me. He was an older looking man, next to him stood a man in a sheriff’s uniform who looked a bit pale and standing in the doorpost was a blonde woman.

“My name is Hershel Greene, you’re on my farm” I looked back at the older man and nodded.   
“My…” I struggled with talking, but I just cleared my throat and tried again.   
“I’m Kayleigh,” my voice sounded even worse than in the woods.   
“Kayleigh Anne Parker” I finished.   
“Nice to meet you Kayleigh, I’m Rick and this is Andrea” I looked over at the sheriff whose name was Rick and smiled while thinking about that name…were have I heard that name before? I felt a pair of eyes burn on me, I looked to see Andrea starring intensely at me, she didn’t trust me that was obvious.   
“I don’t have any guns by the way,” I say bluntly and she looked at me a little startled, realizing I heard them when they talked in the hallway.   
“I don’t like guns” I said while moving my body slowly in a more comfortable pose, starting to get used to the headache.

“I do have two knives, at least I hope Daryl picked them up after he caught me in the woods” The eyes of all three were glued on me as I spoke.   
“And further.. I have some clothes, food, water, a bottle of painkillers, an emergency kit and some of my training gear” I looked at them all, but my eyes ended at Andrea.   
“So I hope you can stop staring now, it makes me nervous” Andrea immediately looked away and a few seconds later she walked out of the room.

  
There was a silence in the room for a couple moments where we just looked at each other.   
“Well, we’ll just let you rest some more.” Hershel said, before I could object the two men were gone and closed the door behind them. I just stared in front of me, closing my eyes and let my head lean against the headboard.

  
Before I knew it the door opened again, and there was a woman with short brown hair and a tray in her hands with a new glass of water and a plate with a sandwich.   
“My father told me you woke up and I guessed you could use some food” she spoke with a thick southern accent. I just smiled while she came in and closed the door behind her. She put the tray on the bed next to me and sat down in a chair close to the bed.   
“Kayleigh right?” I just nodded   
“Well I’m Maggie, Hershel is my father and the one that patched you up” I grabbed the tray and put it on my lap.   
“I thought so, thanks for the food,” I said before beginning with the sandwich. It tasted heavenly after all the canned food I’d been eating for the past couple days.

Within moments I finished, damn I guess I really was hungry. A bit ashamed of how fast I devoured the food I looked at Maggie while taking a sip of water.   
“If you feel better there’s a bathroom down the hall where you can freshen up. I even have some fresh clothes if you want” She looked at me waiting for an answer.   
“Thanks, I’ll do that, but you don’t need to get me clothes I still have some clean ones left in my bag” she smiled and got up. She noticed the broken glass on the floor and started to clean it up.   
“Please let me do it” I insisted while moving the tray of my lap trying to get out of bed. She waved her hand at me.   
“It’s okay you still need to get your strength back, I’ll ask daddy to check up on you later and get that IV out” she put the pieces of broken glass on the tray and grabbed it. She walked towards the door   
“Maggie” she turned around and looked at me.   
“Thank you again” she just smiled and left the room.

  
I was sitting there for some time; I even dozed off a couple of times when the door opened again. It was Hershel   
“So tell me doctor, when am I allowed to leave my bed?” I joked while he walked up to me and took some test.   
“Well, your vitals are back to normal, how do you feel?” I smiled as he stood up walking over to the other side of the bed where my IV was hanging on the headboard.   
“Better, a bit sore though.. But my headache is gone” I said with a smile. He pulled the needle out of my arm and looked at me while nodding his head.   
“That’s good to hear. You can leave the bed now, but be careful and take it easy for a day or two until your fully get your strength back” I nodded with a big smile on my face, glad to finally get out of this bed and freshen up. He left the room and I slowly got out of bed.

  
I threw my bag on the chair and started to gather my clothes. I stopped when I couldn’t find my soap thinking where I could have left it. Then, it hit me   
“Rick” I whispered to myself. How could I forget! Sophia! She talked about a man named Rick…Could this be the group she was talking about? But I thought they were on the highway? I just started to get dressed, that shower could wait, I needed to get outside to go on my search again.

As I looked outside I saw it was already getting dark, so I needed to hurry. While putting on my shoes I heard a voice behind me   
“So Hershel gave you the okay to walk around again?” I turned my head and saw Daryl leaning against the doorpost. I nodded and walked to my bag again grabbing a bottle of water and my painkillers. Swallowing two pills before throwing it back in my bag.   
“Wow, if you still feel pain, I can call Hershel if you want” I just shook my head while turning around to him.   
“No need, I don’t have time for more resting” he looked at me confused.   
“Please tell me you have my knives” I continued and he nodded.   
“What do you need them for” he asked in a serious tone.   
“I need to go out there, right now! She needs me and I’m losing daylight here” Daryl stood up straight before taking a few steps in the room.   
“Who needs ya?” he asked still not making any sense of what I was saying.   
“Yesterday I found this girl in the woods….” Daryl who was now just a few inches in away from me cut me off.   
“Was she wearing a blue shirt? Short blond hair?” I just nodded   
“Her name was Sophia, she told me she got chased by walkers and someone ran after her to help her but they got separated.” Before I could say anything else, Daryl stormed out of the room. I was confused and immediately went after him.

  
I stepped outside the house, for the first time seeing where I was. I saw Daryl a couple feet in front of me walking towards a camp. I ran after him and grabbed his arm.   
“You know who I’m talking about don’t you?” he just nodded and pulled himself away from my hand. He finally stopped walking when we reached a truck. Rick, Andrea and some other guy were standing there.

“Where’s the map” Daryl just said and Rick gave it to him. Rick looked at me and was about to say something, but Daryl interrupted us.   
“Where did you last see her?” I looked down at the map and just shook my head.   
“I don’t even know where I was when I found her,” I said while looking at the map.   
“I did find a piece of fabric a couple feet from the spot where you found me” he nodded and placed his finger on the map.

I looked up to see a lot of confused faces; Daryl took his eyes away from the map to.   
“She found Sophia yesterday, but they got separated before I found her” he simply said.   
“You saw my baby girl?” I looked to my side and saw a woman with short hair walking over. I nodded   
“How was she? Where is she now?” she asked while coming closer towards me.   
“I saved her from a walker when I found her. We stayed the night in a tree and this morning I was trying to find our way back to the highway to find you, but..”

I hated myself for having to tell her mother that I lost her daughter. She looked at me with anticipation.   
“But we got separated when I fought a walker that came close, I’ve been searching for her just until Daryl found me and I lost consciousness” I saw the fear in this woman’s eyes and it hurt like hell.   
“We’re gonna find her” Daryl said and we both looked at him.   
“I’ll go out there first thing in the morning” he said before folding the map and giving it back to Rick. The woman just nodded and walking away towards an RV. I wanted to go after her, but was stopped.   
“Just leave Carol, it’s been really hard on her” I heard Rick say. I stopped and wrapped my arms around myself feeling like breaking down. I took a couple of big breaths and just kept looking at the RV. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Rick.   
“Let me introduce you to everyone” I just nodded and followed him.

Rick introduced me to everyone in the camp. I greeted everyone with a smile, everyone seemed really nice, especially Glenn and Dale. I once again felt a pair of eyes burning on me and I just knew it was Andrea. I don’t know why, but that woman just didn’t trust or like me or maybe both and there was Shane, I just had a bad feeling about him, but by the looks of it Rick trusts him, so how bad could he be? I know I just met Rick, but there was something about him that felt good even though I didn't fully trust him yet.

I also learned about his son Carl, who was shot yesterday and was recovering from a heavy operation as we speak. His wife Lori was inside with their son, even though it was terrible what happened to the little guy I felt somehow relieved he was going to be okay. I also asked Rick about Merle, because I met him the same day as Daryl and I was wondering where he was. That’s when he told me the story about the disappearance of the older Dixon. I felt bad for Daryl, even though I wasn’t exactly the nicest person to Merle when we met, but it was his brother and it must suck not knowing what happened to him.

There was one thing that bothered me though, even scared me a bit. Rick told me that they lost Sophia the day before Carl got shot and that today was the first day the whole group was on the farm. Which meant, the chance was pretty big that I’ve lost her yesterday. It scared me that I passed out and probably laid there the whole night, the whole night there was a change I got attacked. And then there was Sophia; she had to survive a night out there on her own already.

  
The whole group was around a fire eating their dinner and just having small talk with each other, they were even laughing. I definitely felt like the odd one out, I just stood there watching them from a distance with my bag hanging on my shoulder. I didn’t want to be an intruder and just sit while I wasn’t part of their group. I was about to drop my bag and sit on the ground to eat one of my cans from my bag when I heard someone yell something.   
“There you are! I saved you a plate” I looked up and saw Carol walking over to me with a plate of food.

  
“Thanks” I said with a smile on my face, it amazed me a bit that she was so nice to me since I told her that I lost her daughter in the woods today. She guided me to the rest of the group who all greeted me with a smile. Everyone except Andrea, I guess she was on the RV keeping watch and Daryl who was just staring at his food while eating. I sat down by the tree and dropped my bag next to me. I sat down with my legs crossed and looked at the food, it was warm, I hadn’t had that since that small camp a couple days ago.

All the sudden there were two knives a few inches away from my face, I looked up and looked at Daryl. I took them and nodded thanks. He simply nodded back and continued eating while I put them in my bag before starting my dinner. I enjoyed the feeling of warm food when suddenly someone spoke up a little louder.   
“Okay, I can’t wait anymore!” I looked up and saw Glenn staring at me with a big smile.   
“What’s in the bag? I heard you had some training gear in it?” he asked with a puzzled look on his face.   
“For god’s sakes Glenn let the girl eat,” Rick said while chuckling just like the rest of the group.   
“No, no it’s okay” I said laughing while putting my plate away and placing the bag on my lap.

  
“By the way, I’m used to eating my food cold” I said with a grin on my face.   
“Plus, I’m pretty sure I’m not really a girl anymore” I said while opening my bag, I looked up again and saw everyone staring at me.   
“I just know you probably think I’m younger than I actually am” Rick had a very curious look in his eyes right now.   
“You can’t be older than 22” he said with a bit of a questioning tone.   
“Yeah, I kinda am. I turned 28, three months ago” Glenn choked on the food he had in his mouth and everyone looked at me in disbelieve.   
“No way” I heard next to me from a man I think his name was T-Dogg? I opened a side pocket of my bag and grabbed my wallet and gave my driver’s license to him.   
“She’s telling the truth,” he said while sounding a bit surprised.

  
Everyone looked at me in anticipation; I even think Daryl was interested in the rest of my story.   
“Well you’ve seen my knives, well actually they’re my dad’s,” I said while placing them aside. I looked back inside my bag and grabbed the first two things I saw. A short black sports top and my black and red Thai boxing shorts. Underneath them were my fingerless boxing gloves in the same color as my pants.

“When I was 10 I started karate and after I got older I was hooked to martial arts” I said in a soft tone thinking back to my first karate lesson. Even though it was a long time ago, I could remember it as if it was yesterday. Everyone looked at me in surprise. Glenn was about to say something, but Daryl interrupted him.   
“That explains why you knocked Merle on his face without even breaking a sweat” he said with a grin on his face. I looked at him and saw a hint of hurt in his eyes, while saying that.   
“Wait what?” I heard Shane say. I looked at him and nodded.   
“I warned him, I gave him three seconds to let me go, but he didn’t,” I said trying to hide my pride grin.

  
Everyone was staring at me, some in a bit of a shock and others with a grin on their face.   
“What’s in that wooden case?” I looked up and saw Carol sitting down next to me and I looked back inside my bag.   
“There are two actually” I said while pulling both of them out. I opened the first one and it revealed my nun chucks.   
“This was a gift for my 16th birthday from my dad, I just started to train with rubber ones and he was so proud of me.” I said while passing them around.   
“I used them once, after I mastered the rubber ones because my dad wanted to see it. I thought they were too beautiful and didn’t want to scratch them so I kept them in a showcase together with these beauties” I opened the second case and showed them my kunai set.   
“These are traditional Kunai, some of you probably know them from ninja movies and stuff” the group was looking at them and I was glad their eyes weren’t on me for a change.

  
From that moment on the whole group shared stories from before the outbreak, I just leaned my head back against the tree and listened to them. This was the first time since Atlanta I felt somehow safe and it felt good. I still had to be on guard though; I still didn’t know whom to trust. The warmth of the small fire was relaxing and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.   
“Wake up, I ain’t carrying you again” I opened my eyes and saw Daryl standing in front of me. I quickly looked around, it was still dark and we were the last ones left.

I slowly got up and Daryl nudged me to follow him. I nodded and looked around for my bag, but it was gone.   
“Your stuff is already at my tent” he said and I looked back to Daryl who was already walking. I followed him to the edge of the camp, where he stopped and unzipped the tent.   
“I don’t know if you want to change or something, but better do it quick” I shook my head   
“I’m fine” I said, I just wanted to lie down and close my eyes again. He nodded and we both got in, I sat down on one of the stretchers that were inside. I started to take off my shoes, while Daryl closed the tent and did the same on the other one. We both lay down in the bags and I just looked up to the ceiling of the tent. I looked to the side and saw that he had his back towards me.   
“Goodnight” I whispered, he murmured something similar and I looked back up. I was tired, but I couldn’t sleep anymore. Guilt took over my body; guilt for laying here while Sophia was out there on her own. I just hoped she was okay. I didn’t even want to think about other scenarios right now, but it was too late they were already taking over my thoughts. Tears starting flowing down my cheeks, thinking about the horror that could have happened to that little girl. I turned my back towards Daryl and held my hand against my mouth in an attempt to keep myself quiet. I closed my eyes, hoping to fall asleep while tears kept running down my face.


	5. Tension in the Air

I opened my eyes; the ceiling of the tent was the first thing I saw. I looked to the side and saw that Daryl was still asleep. Through the walls of the tent I could see it was just starting to get light. I still felt horrible and I knew that falling asleep again wasn’t an option. I decided to just get up and take a walk. I really needed to clear my head. I sat up and looked around and spotted my bag pretty fast. I just grabbed my jacket since I put on fresh clothes yesterday after my shower. I pulled my hair up in a ponytail and put on my shoes. I looked over my shoulder while I unzipped the tent; I just hoped I didn’t wake him up. Before I got out of my tent I quickly grabbed one of my knives, just in case. Once outside, I immediately zipped up my jacket, it was still early in the morning so it was pretty chilly outside. I attached the holster for my knife on my leg before walking away from the tent. I just started walking; I just hoped that I could help look for Sophia today. Even though I don’t know anything about tracking somebody or something, I still wanted to help.

  
“Good morning Kayleigh” I looked up as I heard the voice, it was Dale who was sitting on top of the RV.   
“Good morning” I replied with a smile, I thought about just walking further, but I could use a little distraction and company.   
“Would you like some company up there?” I asked and he nodded with a big smile. I climbed up the RV and sat down in the empty chair next to Dale, I looked around for a bit and enjoyed the beautiful view of the sunrise. We started talking about our past lives, his wife and my grandma. It felt good to talk about happy memories, it made me forget about how shitty life was right now. As time went by, more people woke up and some started to make breakfast.   
“Hey Karate kid! Got you guys some breakfast” I looked down and saw Glenn standing with two plates in his hand and a big grin on his face. I accepted the plates and we both thanked Glenn before he went back to the rest of the group.

  
After we talked some more, I realized I really needed to talk to Rick before they went on the search. It didn’t take me long to find him.   
“Hey Rick, can I ask you something?” he turned around and faced me.   
“Sure” I looked around before facing him again   
“I wanna go with you today, I feel responsible for the fact that Sophia is still missing and I wanna help” He looked at me with a troubled look and rubbed his neck.   
“I’m sorry, but Hershel told me it would be best if you take it easy one more day” I sighed and turned around. I felt his hands on my shoulder, but I just walked away. I know they just wanted me to be safe and stuff, but I could take care of myself! I sat down on the same spot I sat yesterday during dinner. It wasn’t long before Carol came up to me.   
“Hey I was about to go do the laundry, maybe you want to help?” she asked with a soft smile.   
“Yeah sure, it’s not like I’m allowed to go out there, so I might as well help around” I got up and had a weak smile on my face.  
We didn’t talk much while we washed the clothes in the creek, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. She asked me about her daughter and I told her everything that happened. Even though I lost her, she still thanked me for taking care of Sophia.

  
We walked back to the camp and our conversation started to get a little lighter, we talked about what we missed from the old days. We even laughed with each other, but that didn’t change the fact I still felt guilty as hell. Not long after we started hanging the clothes, Lori, who complained about how nobody woke her up especially on laundry day, joined us. I overheard Carol’s idea for cooking dinner for Hershel and his family to thank them for taking us in. I just let the other two talk, as we finished and I just left them. Looking for something else to do around here, I needed to keep my mind distracted. I ended up keeping Dale company again on his watch, he showed me how to hold the rifle properly even though he wasn’t an expert and I hated guns. I knew there was a change I had to keep watch someday and I knew I couldn’t do that with just my knives. He also told me that Shane was giving gun training tomorrow and suggested that I should go.

  
The day went by slowly, I helped Lori with making lunch and for the rest of the day I was with Dale. Eventually people came back from the search, first Andrea, T-dogg and the kid from the farm I think his name was Jimmy. Quickly after that Shane and Rick returned too, both groups came back with nothing and I hoped Daryl would succeed in finding something. I was on my way to the farmhouse to help Lori and Carol with dinner, since Andrea took over the watch from Dale.

Andrea was the only one who hadn’t talked to me yet, she just looked at me with those judging eyes. I was chopping vegetables and talked with Lori and Carol about girly stuff. That’s when I heard Andrea yelling something outside. We all looked at each other in confusion, that’s when I heard Shane and Rick yell. I ran towards the door grabbing my knife ready to attack if needed, Lori and Carol ran after me. I ran towards the RV hoping to get some answers about what was going on. I saw Andrea laying on top the rifle aiming for something close to the woods. I saw that everyone except Dale was running towards the woods. Dale was arguing with Andrea not to shoot, but of course she didn’t listened. She fired a shot and grinned proudly.   
“NOOOO!!!” my head shot up towards the field, that was Rick! My heart started to race, I saw that they pulled someone up and Andrea and Dale were running towards the guys. I was stuck to the ground when I saw whom they held, I recognized him in an instant. Daryl?

  
That’s when I heard Hershel yell behind me asking what was going on. I just stood there in shock when the group passed by me and dragged Daryl inside.  
I sat outside the room Daryl was currently in with Shane, Rick and Hershel. Lori was beside me; we didn’t speak, we just waited for news. After what felt like hours, the door opened and three men came outside.   
“He will be fine, but he needs to rest” Hershel said before walking down the stairs, Shane was quick to follow and Rick walked over to Lori. I saw on the look on both their faces they wanted privacy so I went downstairs as well. I walked into the kitchen and helped Carol finish dinner.

  
Dinner was silent, people looked at each other, but no one spoke. I stared at the plate, I wasn’t that hungry anymore. Knowing Daryl almost got killed today searching for Sophia, he did find her doll though, but she was still missing. I forced myself to eat the food, knowing I needed the strength if I was going on gun training and search for Sophia tomorrow. Glenn broke the silence   
“So who knows how to play guitar? I mean Dale found a really cool one down at the highway” there was a silence for a second   
“Otis could” I looked up at the woman named Patricia who was looking at her plate with hurt written all over her face.   
“And he was amazing at it” Hershel added and laid a hand on her shoulder. The awkward silence returned and I went back to stare at my plate. Thinking about how Patricia must feel like right now, I heard what happened to Otis. He gave his life to save Shane on a medical supply run and with that he saved Carl too.

  
After dinner I helped clear the tables, I saw that Carol went upstairs to bring Daryl some dinner and I decided to give those two some privacy. As soon I saw Carol coming downstairs, I went up. I stood still in front of the door that led to the room I was in yesterday. Should I knock first? What if he was asleep? Or maybe he didn’t want to see me? I stood there for a couple minutes when I decided to just knock anyway.

I slowly opened the door after knocking and saw Daryl covering himself up when I entered the room.   
“Hey, how are you feeling?” I asked while closing the door behind me.   
“Probably as bad as I look right now” I walked over to a chair but before I sat down I looked at Daryl, silently asked permission to sit down, he just nodded and I sat down.   
“So did a Chupacabra did this to you?” I said trying to keep my mouth from forming a grin from ear to ear.

Daryl looked at me in shocked and a bit off anger in his eyes.   
“Dale told me about the story you told about seeing a Chupacabra when you were younger” He scoffed and turned his face away from me   
“I believe you, you know” his eyes shot back to me.   
“I mean, if the death are walking. Why not believe that a bloodsucking dog is real too,” I said while shrugging. I looked over to the nightstand, the plate of food still untouched. I got up from the chair.   
“I’ll let you eat and rest a bit” he still looked a bit surprised, but nodded. I walked towards the door but before leaving the room I looked at Daryl one more time.   
“I’m glad you’re alright.” And with those words I left the room and went straight towards the tent to get some sleep. I wanted to be well rested for the next day.

 

  
I shot up breathing heavily; I felt the sweat dripping from my face. I just woke up from a nightmare…  
  
I dreamed that I found Sophia, but she wasn’t exactly alive when I found her. She was attacking me and snapping her teeth at my flesh. I wasn’t able to move and she got to me. I wiped the sweat of my face and looked to the side seeing Daryl’s empty sleeping bag. I was kind of glad he wasn’t here, that way I wouldn’t have to explain what I just saw in my dream. I lay back down for a minute, but the image of a zombie Sophia wouldn’t leave my mind. I sighed and got up to change in a fresh pair of clothes. I got outside and closed my eyes enjoying the early sunrays on my skin. I opened my eyes when I felt a shiver down my spine, thinking to myself where I left my jacket. Thinking back when I last had it, I remembered it was on the RV yesterday morning when I was keeping Dale company. I looked over at the RV and saw that Andrea was on top of it. I debated with myself for a moment before deciding I would get it later, I didn’t want to deal with Andrea right now.

  
I was in my own little world the whole morning, not paying attention to what was happening around me. I just kept replaying the nightmare in my head, hoping it all would be just a nightmare and we would find Sophia alive and well. Before I knew it I was sitting in one of the cars waiting to go to gun training. I really didn’t want to go, but Dale had a point, it could be useful for me to learn how to shoot. We stood there all in a line, we all had guns in our hand, some even looked like they had done this before. But I felt really uncomfortable, I don’t know why but I just didn’t like guns.

Like I guessed I wasn’t really good at it. I looked over and saw that others hit their target already, even Carl who was still recovering from a gunshot wound. Frustration got a hold on me at this point, I’ve been trained in multiple martial arts disciplines and I can’t even hit a stupid target with a gun? Then Shane walked up to me.   
“Not having any luck, huh?” he said with a cocky grin on his face.   
“Guns just aren’t my thing” he put his arms on mine and pointed me towards to goal.

For the first time I actually hit my target.   
“See, you can do it” he said.   
“Yeah with your help” I responded cranky. Shane walked away; I followed him with my eyes and saw Andrea. Of course she was a natural I thought as I rolled my eyes. It annoyed me how everyone seemed to get a hang of it, except me.

Rick walked over and put his hands on my shoulder.   
“It’s okay, with just a little more practice you’ll get the hang of it,” he said reassuring.   
“Give me a target” Rick looked at me confused while I put my gun in the back of my jeans.   
“Give me a target,” I said again, this time more calm. Rick looked around hesitantly and pointed towards the tree that was behind us.

There was a bare spot on the tree, probably from a branch that used to be there. I grabbed my knife from my holster en looked at it while spinning it around in my hand, to get the feel of the knife. On that moment I felt everyone’s eyes on me, but I didn’t care I wanted to prove I was capable of other things. A few second later I lunged back and threw the knife and as I suspected, it landed perfectly in the middle of the bare spot. A grin formed on my face and I looked at Rick who had his mouth open slightly and a bit of surprise in his eyes. He chuckled a moment and looked back at me and nodded approvingly.   
“I don’t need no damn gun,” I said, pulling the gun out of my pants and giving it to Rick. I didn’t pay any attention to the rest and just walked towards the tree retrieving my knife. Without another word I walked to the vehicles, I was done with guns for today.

  
We got back to the farm and I was more bummed than at practice. Rick told me in the car that the only one going on search today was Shane and he would probably take Andrea. I’ve been silent for the rest of the drive; it was frustrating. I wanted to do something for her too. Hell I needed it; this guilt was starting to feel heavy on my heart. It was lunchtime now and I heard Daryl was back in his tent. I stood in front of the tent with two sandwiches in my hand and looked inside seeing Daryl poking his arrow trough the side of the tent.   
“You’re ruining it you know” he looked up and looked back towards the holes he made. I walked in and sat on my own stretcher and gave him a sandwich.   
“You must be starving” he accepted it and started eating. We sat there, well I sat he was still laying down, and ate our lunch in silence. I was about to get up and leave, feeling like I wasn’t welcome anymore.

“So how was gun practice?” he said in a teasing tone, I looked at him and saw a small grin on his face.   
“It sucked” not wanting to talk about my failure, but his grin grew even bigger.   
“Who told you about it?” He shrugged and tried not to laugh.   
“Does it matter?” I got up annoyed and walked outside.   
“See ya later, circus girl” I scoffed and looked over my shoulder.   
“Whatever, Robin Hood”

  
The remainder of the day went slowly again, but I started to notice there was a different vibe around the camp. Everywhere I looked I saw people whisper, or argue with each other. Everyone was tense, which made me wonder if I missed something. Eventually Shane and Andrea got back, but their lead on Sophia was another dead end. How come it was so hard to find a little girl? It killed me knowing, that every minute we just sat here something could have happened to her. Dinner came and again my appetite was gone. I didn’t even accept a plate this time, telling them I ate my lunch late and I wasn’t hungry. It was not like I completely lied; even though Carol kept trying I didn’t want to waste any of their food. I just knew I couldn’t eat a single bite and just like yesterday I went to bed early. I was glad Daryl was already asleep when I entered the tent. I just stared at the ceiling praying that the nightmare from last night didn’t return.

  
I opened my eyes and sighed when I noticed it was morning again. I made it through without any dream. I looked to my side and saw that Daryl was already gone. There was a delicious smell coming from outside and my stomach growled. I hurried outside and wished everyone a good morning before I grabbed a plate for myself. Again there was tension in the whole group, nobody spoke and just stared at their plates. I felt like an even bigger outsider right now than I did a couple of days ago. I looked around and noticed Glenn was nervously looking back and forth between Dale and the farmhouse. I looked to the other side and saw Lori and Rick acting awkward. What the hell was going on here? I looked down at my plate again and just started eating, even though the tension was killing me, it wasn’t my place to ask what was going on.   
“Uhm guys…” I looked up and saw that Glenn was now standing. Everyone looked up towards the boy and waited for him to speak.  
  
“So…. the barn is full of walkers”


	6. The Barn

I almost choked on my eggs when Glenn spoke   
“Say what now?” was the only thing I could say. Was he kidding? He’s got to be kidding? But on the other hand, you wouldn’t lie about something like that. I looked around me and saw everyone in either shock or anger.   
A few moments later we were all standing in front of the barn, we all kept our distance except for Shane who was looking through the gap of the barn doors. When it started to move we all jumped back a bit. It was true?

  
“You cannot tell me you’re all right with this?” Shane asked Rick while walking away from the barn.   
“No I’m not, but we’re guests here. This isn’t our land” “For god’s sake! This is our lives man!” Shane shouted back.   
“Lower your voices” Glenn nervously intervened.   
“We can’t just sweep this under the rug” Andrea added.   
“It ain’t right, not remote” T-Dogg agreed.   
“We’ve either got to go in there, we’ve got to make things right or we just got to go, Now we’ve been talking about Fort Benning a long..” Before Shane could finish Rick interrupted saying that we couldn’t go.

“Why Rick, why?”   
“Because my daughter is still out there” Carol stepped up. Shane was getting frustrated, I could see it by his movements   
“Okay… okay… okay I think it’s time we all start to consider the other possibility” Rick called Shane’s name a couple times.   
“We’re not leaving Sophia behind”

That’s when Daryl stepped in.   
“I’m close to finding this girl, I just found her doll two days ago!” Shane chuckled and I started to feel that this conversation was getting out of hand.   
“You found her doll Daryl, that’s what you did. You found a doll!” Daryl was getting angrier   
“You don’t know the hell you’re talking about” Rick tried to shush both men, but didn’t succeed.   
“Hey I’m just saying what needs to be said” and he started ranting on about leads   
“Let me tell you something else man. If she was alive out there, and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction man”

That’s when the fight between Daryl and Shane started, Rick was the first to come between them, Andrea, Glenn, Lori and me were soon to follow to get the guys from each other’s throat. I stood in front of Daryl and placed my hands on his chest guiding him away from Shane. He was all fired up and so was Shane. Lori was with him, but he pushed her away   
“Keep your hands of me!” and he started to walk away.   
“Just let me talk to Hershel” Rick yelled towards Shane and the rest of the group.   
“Let me figure it out” that’s when Shane barged towards Rick screaming   
“What are you gonna figure out?!”

Lori came between them again.   
“If we’re going to stay, if we’re going to clear this barn. I have to talk him into it, this is his land!” That’s when Dale came in.   
“Hershel sees those things in there as people.” Everyone now stared at him.   
“Sick people, his wife and stepson” Rick interrupted Dale.   
“You knew?”   
“Yesterday, I talked to Hershel” Shane walked closer towards Dale.   
“And you waited the night?” Dale nodded   
“I thought we could survive one more night. We did! I was waiting ‘till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one” Shane was pacing around   
“The man is crazy Rick! If Hershel thinks those thing are alive” his voice was getting louder by the word.   
That’s when we all looked at the barn doors, they started moving more and the moans got louder. By then we were all walking away from the barn in a fast pace. I was still next to Daryl, who started to calm down a little.

Everyone was tensed and the vibe around here was killing me. Shane was back at the barn, Rick went to the house to talk to Hershel and Glenn just came back from god knows where with his head covered in egg and a defeated look on his face. I had no idea where the rest of the group was; I just decided to join Lori and Carl. We were sitting down and Carl was doing some math assignments, which Lori helped him with. I guess she wanted him to do something normal, in this world full of chaos.

“Does Shane think Sophia is dead?” Lori and I both looked at Carl; we looked at each other for a moment before Lori answered.   
“Shane’s just scared” Carl nodded   
“Of the walkers in the barn” and we both nodded at the little boy. Carl looked at the book for a moment before looking back at his mother.   
“Mom, I’m not leaving until we find Sophia and…I don’t wanna go even after that.” I was a bit shocked about what came out of this little boy’s mouth.

“Well we’re not leaving” his mother reassured him.   
“Now finish those problems” and she pointed to the book.   
“I just think… she’s gonna like it here. This place… It could be a home” Lori hugged her son, for a boy his age, he sure sounded like an adult.

It was silent for a few moments and I just stared into the distance, not looking at anything particular.   
“Kayleigh, can I ask something?” I turned at looked at Carl.   
“Sure, anything you want” I said with a smile and turned towards him.   
“Is it true, what I heard? Do you know how to fight with nun chucks?” I laughed a bit and nodded.   
“Yeah, and that’s not all I can” I looked at Lori and she just smiled back at me.

“Cool! Can you teach me?” I ruffled up his hair and nodded once again.   
“Sure, I can teach you some day, but first you need to do your problems”. I used to be pretty good at math in high school and I was glad I could do something instead of just sitting around waiting for Rick to finish his talk. I knew he was going out on a search with Andrea today, but I didn’t care, I was done doing simple chores around the camp and I just wanted to go out and look for the little girl I lost three days ago.

Damn… three days already or maybe four even, I cursed myself for not knowing how long I was in those woods before Daryl found me. I started thinking about what Shane had said at the barn and it killed me to think that he might be right. I shook the thought out of my head…   
No I couldn’t think like that! She was alive and today we were going to find her.

  
I was standing next to Rick and Andrea at the car looking over the map. Andrea didn’t look too happy with me there, but Rick said it was okay that I joined the search. We both listened to Rick who told us about a new lead on Sophia.   
“Rick” we all turned away from the car and looked towards Hershel who was coming our way.   
“Hershel, we just have our guns out, because we’re gonna look for Sophia” Hershel was rolling his sleeves and stopped in front of us.   
“Before you do that, I could use your help with something”   
“Count me in” Andrea added before Rick could speak.   
“Thank you, but I just need Rick” Rick looked at the both of us for a second and Andrea started to roll up the map.   
“I’ll be down at the barn to keep watch, call me when you’re ready” and she walked away.   
“You can still count me in for the search, so when you’re done just come and get me” I said with a smile and watched as Rick and Hershel walked off together.

  
Great… Again I had to wait, God wasn’t anyone taking this seriously? We’re losing time! I walked towards to RV, but stopped a few feet away when I heard a discussion going on between Glenn and Shane. After Shane stormed off, I took a few steps closer and looked up to Glenn.   
“What was that about?” he just shrugged and looked at his feet for a second.   
“I have no idea, something about Dale and where he was, but I have no idea” I nodded, feeling a little bad for Glenn; he didn’t deserve to be yelled at by Shane.   
“Well if you need anything, just let me know okay?” he nodded and sat back on the folding chair. I walked away from the RV, not really sure where I was going, but I needed to distract myself while waiting for Rick to return.

  
I ended up on the porch railing, I stared over the lands that belonged to the Greene family. Behind me Carl, Beth and Patricia were playing a board game. In front of me Glenn and Maggie were talking, I liked seeing them that way, they looked cute together.   
“Do you know what’s going on?” I turned around and saw T-dogg and Andrea approaching us.   
“Where is everyone?” Andrea asked keeping her attention to Glenn.   
“You haven’t seen Rick?”   
“He went off with Hershel, we were supposed to leave a couple of hours ago” I added, Andrea looked at me a bit irritated.

“Yeah you were. What the hell?” I looked up and saw Daryl and Carol coming towards us.   
“Rick told us he was going out” Carol said.   
“Damn it! Isn’t anyone taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail” I jumped off the railing wanting to volunteer to go on the search, if someone was willing to join me.   
“Oh, here we go” that’s when Shane came with the bag of guns hanging on his shoulder.

“What’s all this?” Shane handed Daryl a gun.   
“You with me man?” After Daryl accepted Shane was now standing in front of us all.   
“Time to grow up, you already got yours?” he asked Andrea.   
“Yeah, where’s Dale?” They were walking away and I hesitated if I should follow.   
“He’s on his way” Shane simple answered, but there was something about the way he said it which made me wondered if something happened between them.

Shane started to give a speech about how it was time do something and keep us safe. He started handing out guns, Maggie started arguing with Shane, she asked him to stop doing this, knowing her father wouldn’t approve on this. Lori joined us asking what was going on, I looked at Shane with disgust, he even wanted to give Carl a gun?! Lori immediately stepped between them.

“Rick said no guns, this is not your call, this is not your decision to make”   
“Oh shit” we looked up at T-Dogg and turned our heads towards where he was looking. Jimmy came out of the woods first, but soon after that Hershel and Rick followed, both men guiding walkers on a pole towards the barn.

Within seconds we were all running towards the barn. I had a really bad feeling on what was going to happen next. Everything happened so fast from there, first Shane was just yelling then he started shooting the walker that was in front of Hershel. He killed the walker and Hershel just collapsed, he just sat there on the ground, his face just in shock. I heard Rick yelling, but a bigger fear came over me when Shane went for the barn doors and started ramming them.

He broke the doors; it felt like time stood still for a moment, this wasn’t happening. Lori was the first I could see, she was screaming at Rick, wanting him to stop this while holding Carl close to her.   
Maggie was now down next to her father and that’s when people started lining up to shoot the walkers coming out of the barn. I nervously took a hold on the handle of my knife, but keeping in its holster.   
Gunshots and growling of the walkers was all I could hear right now. Lori had tried with all her might to keep her son close to her, Jimmy was holding a crying Beth, Patricia stood next to them and Rick looked defeated.   
I took a few steps towards Carol grabbing her hand, I knew what her fear was this moment, it was mine too. Silence fell when the last zombie dropped dead to the ground. I looked to my right and saw Dale, looking astonished at the chaos that was around us.

We all stood there for what felt like hours, no one knew what to say or do. Beth freed herself from Jimmy’s grip and walked past everyone over to the zombie bodies. She fell down to her knees next to a woman, turning the body around and kept calling mom. Out of nowhere the walker started moving again and everyone was there in no time to get her out of the grip of her mom. T-Dogg started stomping on the head, Glenn tried to keep it in place and Andrea was the one to kill it with a scythe.   
Not long after that, Hershel and his people, except for Jimmy went back to the house with Rick, Glenn and Shane in their trail. I squeezed Carol’s hand softly.   
“She’s not in there, she’s still alive” I said trying to calm her and myself down.

After a few minutes we started to get rid of the bodies, except for Hershel’s wife and stepson. They were going to be buried. T-Dogg pulled up the truck and we started to load the bodies in the back. Sweat was dripping from my back and everything that just happened kept replaying in my head. I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned my head and looked at Daryl. By now I realized I was standing still with arms of a walker in my hand.   
“I’m fine” I said softly before dragging the body again towards the truck. We all stood around the truck just looking at the bodies, there was still silence.

Out of nowhere Daryl turned around and aimed his shotgun towards to woods. I looked up and saw a look in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. While turning around to see what he was looking at, I heard a scream coming from Carol. I felt a lump in my throat and my mouth dropped open at the sight.   
A couple feet away from us was little Sophia stuck in the wires of the fence snapping her teeth towards us. In the corner of my eye I saw Carol running towards her daughter but was stopped by Daryl.   
No one was moving and I felt my mind going blank. I just started walking, taking my knife out of the holster. I stopped right in front of the girl placing my hand on her head to keep it steady while her teeth were snapping and her arms trying to get me. I looked away   
“I’m so sorry” I whispered before planting my knife in the back of her head. I lifted the body and carried her towards the truck. I carried her like I did when we were running away from the creatures that she had become, all because I couldn’t protect her. All I heard were the hysterical screams and sobs from Carol. I laid Sophia down next to the other two bodies and just walked away still holding onto the blade that ended her undead life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I've also posted this story on two other sites under the same username.  
> I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. I would love to hear what yo guys think of it.


	7. Breaking Point

I just sat there, a couple feet away from the campsite. My face was in a straight line and I just looked towards the camp. People started to come back and by the looks of it everyone now knew that Sophia was dead. I twirled the bloody knife in my hands, my bag was next to me and I just kept looking.   
I felt nothing, even though I wanted to cry so badly, I felt nothing. I should feel something! I should feel anger, regret, sorrow, but I felt absolutely nothing at this point. I knew I missed the funeral, but I didn’t deserve to be there since it was my fault she was dead.   
After quite a while I realized, nobody noticed me or cared to look for me. I didn’t belong here and I knew that now.   
The only reason why I still was with the group was Sophia and she was gone now. I was nothing to these people now and I guess I couldn’t blame them. Maybe it was better if I left; after all I never meant to stay in this place too long.   
I had a mission, finding my father.

  
It was decided then, I was going to leave, leave right now. I didn’t need to say goodbye to anyone, nobody cared after all.   
I stood lifting my bag from the ground, ready to go until I saw Daryl walking out of the RV. I wanted to say goodbye to him, but I knew I couldn’t; not after he saved me. It would hurt too much; I turned around ready to walk away from all this mess.   
When it hit me, what if they did notice I was gone and someone did look for me? I sighed, letting the bag slide of my shoulder, I had to tell someone and I put my knife back in its holster. While walking towards the RV, hoping Dale would be there, I was thinking of a way to say it.

  
Andrea walked out of the RV and bumped against my shoulder with a bit of force, I wanted to turn around and yell, but it just wasn’t worth it anymore.   
“What the hell is your problem?” I heard the attitude from Andrea and turned around.   
“Excuse me?” I said wondering if I heard her correctly.   
“Oh what you’re deaf now too? You heard me.” That look in her eyes was pissing me off.   
“I don’t have a problem Andrea, you do” Her arrogant look went darker.   
“I have a problem?” she said laughing.   
“Please enlighten me Kayleigh, what is my problem?!”

I noticed people were gathering around us, asking what was going on. Ignoring everyone around me, I just shook my head, that woman was unbelievable.   
“I don’t know Andrea, but ever since I got here you’ve been treating me like shit! I can’t think of any reason that I could have done to deserve that crap! Perhaps you should get your head out of your ass and see what’s wrong with you!” I started calm, but by the end of my sentence I was screaming at the blond woman in front of me.   
I heard people around me telling us to calm down, but this was between her and me now. I was sick of it and I wanted her to know that.

After not getting a response from her, I scuffed at her and turned around to walk away.   
That’s when I felt it, my head was flipped to the side and I felt a burning sensation in my cheek and lips. The Bitch hit me!   
I swiped my fingers across my lip, looked at my own blood and that’s went everything went black.   
I slung my arm back and punched Andrea straight on her nose, knocking her on her ass. I pushed my body towards Andrea and dropped myself on top of her. I managed to punch her one more time before feeling two strong arms around my waist lifting me off of her.   
I tried to free myself from the grip, but it wasn’t working. I heard people screaming, but the only one I could understand was a low southern voice that was whispering in my ear trying to calm me down.

Only one problem, it was too late, I snapped and everything I held in the last couple days and everything I wanted to feel just a few minutes ago had taken a hold of me. Andrea looked at me while grabbing her nose, Dale and T-Dogg were by her side trying to get her of the ground.   
“I promise you this bitch! Touch me again and I’ll swear to whatever sick god is still out there..” by now I had freed myself and was standing over Andrea.   
“I’ll break every little bone that’s in that pathetic body of yours” I felt Daryl’s hand on my arms now and I spat the blood that was collected in my mouth down at Andrea. Without looking around me I just pulled away from Daryl and walked back to the spot where I left my bag. I was done with these people!

 

I was shaking with anger and all kinds of emotions went through my body like a rollercoaster. I picked my bag up again and just walked, I had no idea how to get to my father, I just knew it was my only option right now.   
“Where the hell are you going?” I recognized the voice, but didn’t want to face him, not after what just happened.   
“Like you care” I just said while I kept walking.

Then my bag was pulled from my shoulder and I turned around and noticed Daryl was just a step away from me.   
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” he said annoyed while still holding my bag in his hands.   
“It’s not like anyone wants me here” my voice sounded a bit calmer now. I tried to avoid his eyes, but I always ended up looking at him.   
“What makes you think that bullshit?” I sighed.   
“Can’t you see it? People only wanted me here because of Sophia…but now she’s gone” my voice started to crack and I felt my eyes burning.

“I killed her Daryl” while holding back my tears I looked at Daryl’s confused face.   
“It’s all my fault” guilt once again took a hold of me. I tried my best to gain control over my emotions, but I just couldn’t. I took a few steps back feeling tears streaming down my cheeks.   
“I should have stayed with her!” my voice was getting louder, I was so mad at myself.   
“She died because of me! Because I let her go!” I wasn’t yelling at him, I was yelling at myself.

I didn’t even look at Daryl, I looked at the ground while pacing back and forth.   
“I just sent her running, not thinking about giving her something to protect herself! I failed her and got her killed!” I couldn’t see clearly anymore thanks to all the tears that just kept running. My heart rate was off the charts and my breathing was out of control. I walked up towards a nearby tree and started punching I while I kept screaming, this was all my fault. My legs were feeling wobbly and my knuckles hurt like hell.   
I heard something fall to the ground and not long after I felt two hands on my shoulders. I tried to free myself from his grip because I felt like I didn’t deserve his kindness. He grabbed my wrist to stop me from punching and turned me around.

I grabbed a hold of his shirt, feeling my legs go limb. He tried to keep me up, but he was too late. We both were on the ground now, I felt how tense his body was against mine, but he didn’t let go of me. I’d reached my breaking point and I felt worthless. Daryl hadn’t said anything to me since my melt down, but it didn’t matter. His presence calmed me down and that’s all I needed right now. After a while my body stopped shaking, my heart rate was normal again and the tears had stopped. I looked up at his face and he just looked at me, but I couldn’t read his face. I was usually pretty good at reading people, except Daryl he was just one big mystery to me.   
“I think I need to be alone for a minute” he just nodded and got up. I watched as he walked away, grabbing my bag.   
“What are you doing?” he looked over his shoulder at me   
“We’re not losing anymore people because they wanted to do something stupid” and he walked away. A small smile formed on my lips, I guess someone did care. My breath was still a bit shaky as I leaned back against the tree.

  
I sat there for a very long time; I felt my body relax and I regained control over my emotions. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the summer sun warming my skin. I heard footsteps and they stopped next to me. I opened my eyes, curious on who joined me and I was a bit surprised when I saw Carol sitting down next to me. Her eyes were red and she looked a bit pale. She just stared in front of her and I turned my face away.   
Minutes passed and the silence was starting to drive me crazy.   
“I’m sorry” was all I managed to get out of my mouth.

After a few seconds she looked at me and smiled.   
“Thank you” I looked down at my hands, not wanting to face her.   
“I mean I’m sorry for getting your daughter killed” It was hard for me to say those words, but it had to be said. I saw Carol grabbing one of my hands and I looked up, a small smile still on her face.   
“You didn’t” I wanted to respond but Carol shook her head.   
“You gave her a chance to survive, and I want to thank you. You helped a girl you didn’t know; you risked your life to keep her safe. Thank you for showing my girl kindness still exist in this rotten world” I saw tears forming in her eyes and I felt mine burning too. I squeezed her hand and we sat there looking towards the landscape in front of us.   
“Now let’s get you cleaned up. We don’t want that hand to infect do we” she said out of nowhere and I nodded and followed her towards the house. I couldn’t believe the strength of this woman, she lost her daughter today and still she was so sweet.

  
We were at the dinner table, I heard Hershel was gone and that Glenn and Rick went to look for him. Beth was in shock and there was nothing we could do until Hershel came back. I felt uncomfortable at the table since Andrea was sitting across from me. Her nose was swollen and she had a black eye.   
I could see I broke her nose, since it was a bit crooked. Still a part of me felt a little bad, even though she deserved it, I knew that if Daryl hadn’t stopped me she would have looked much worse.   
She didn’t talk or look at me and no one dared to bring up the conversation. I had seen my own face when Carol took me to the bathroom to freshen up and clean my hand. My bottom lip was just a bit swollen and there was a small cut.

I was taken out of my thoughts when we realized Lori wasn’t here. We started looking inside and outside the house. Carol came back from Daryl, who had moved his stuff and tent over to the edge of the property.   
“Daryl said, she came up to him this afternoon asking if he wanted to go search for Rick, Glenn and Hershel, but he told her he was done being an errand boy and she must have gone herself” Carol said with worry in her tone.   
That’s when Shane decided to go after her, but my attention immediately went to Carl.

I stayed with him while Shane was out looking for his mother. We talked about superheroes and comic books for a while. He also asked me when I would teach him to fight with nun chucks and I told him he needed to heal properly before I could teach him. We heard a car driving and we both ran outside. The rest of the group was already there and I heard an argument starting between Shane and Lori.   
“First things first, I gotta… I gotta look after you, I gotta make sure the baby is alright. Okay?” She was pregnant?   
“You’re having a baby?” Carl spoke walking towards his mom.   
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lori stood there not knowing what answer to give her son.

“Come on, let’s make sure you’re alright” Dale interrupted. Everyone went inside, I stayed outside looking at Shane.   
“You told her Rick was already back, didn’t you?” Shane shot up from the car.   
“Yeah so what?! Someone has to take care of her!” I put my hands up in defense.   
“Woah woah, I’m not saying you made a wrong decision, you got her back to safety. Maybe next time, try to control your anger” He scuffed.   
“Like you did with Andrea” damn he was right.   
“I’m not proud of what I did, I admit that. But she started it” I said and walked away.

I didn’t want to feel guilty about what I did to Andrea, but I started to feel that way anyway. I needed to go to Daryl and ask him where he put my stuff, so I could get my medical kit and fix Andrea’s nose. I’ve had my nose broken numerous times in the past and I learned how to bandage it properly. I reached Daryl’s small camp and I walked under a string that had squirrels and zombie ears on it.   
I ignored them for the time being. I soon noticed Daryl wasn’t outside and I saw that the tent was closed; as I walked closer I could hear his soft snores.   
I sighed; I wasn’t going to wake him up for something simple as asking for my stuff. I stood there for a couple of minutes thinking about what to do. I didn’t feel like going back to the house or the camp right now, but I also didn’t want to intrude and just enter the tent without permission even though we shared it before.   
I turned around and walked over to the stone pile next to the fire that was starting to die. I sat down and poked the fire a bit with a stick that was next to it, in an attempt to keep the fire burning just a little longer. I closed my jacket that I retrieved before dinner and pulled my legs up.   
I stared into the fire while wrapping my arms around myself trying to keep the warmth with me. I stared at the dying fire, it was calming me down a bit just looking at the colors and feeling the warmth touch my skin. Giving me an opportunity to clear my head and not think about a single thing. Forgetting every horrible thing that happened today, just me and the warmth.

  
“What the hell are you doing here?” I shook my head; I was a bit startled and looked around to determine my location. I looked up seeing Daryl standing in front of me, with sunrays beaming behind him. It looked like he was glowing, I never seen him like this before, he looked so handsome almost perfect even.   
“Well?” I shook my head once again, trying to get those previous thoughts out of my head. I stood up and dusted the dirt of my jeans.   
“I came here last night looking for you, but didn’t want to wake you up” I felt that my cheeks were getting warm, wait was I blushing?   
“I just wanted to know where you left my bag, I need my medical kit” He scoffed and I heard him walking away. I looked up and saw that he went inside in his tent. He moved my stuff with him? I felt more heat collecting in my face, what the hell was wrong with me? I felt like some stupid schoolgirl that was talking to her crush. He threw the bag at my feet.   
“Thanks” I said again avoiding eye contact. I grabbed my bag and walked away. Stopping after a few steps   
“Thanks for everything you’ve done for me” not looking back when I spoke.

As soon as I arrived at the camp, I felt people staring at me. I dropped my bag and started to look for the medical kit. I overheard Andrea was in the RV, so without saying a word to anyone I went inside. Last night I decided to do the right thing, apologize and help her fix her nose. Andrea sat at the small table cleaning her gun. She looked up at me and instantly I had a nagging feeling in my stomach looking at the damage I’ve done to her.   
“I’m sorry, I lost control and I never meant to do that to you” she looked a bit shocked, I took a few steps closer and placed the kit on the table.   
“It’s not like I didn’t deserve it,” she said softly, which was surprising for me to hear.   
“Let me help you, I’ve broken my nose a couple times in my time” she looked at me a bit confused.   
“I was a MMA fighter, when I was in college.” She nodded and smiled a bit.

“Explains you’re fast reactions and good punch” she said laughing. I sat down next to her after she made space.   
“I’m afraid it’s gonna hurt like a bitch though” I warned as I started the ritual that’s been done to me a lot. Andrea stiffened as I pushed her nose back in place and I started the cleaning.   
“So that should do the trick,” I said with a smile. I took a bottle of pills out of my pocket and gave Andrea two of my painkillers.   
“Especially with these” she nodded at me.   
“Thank you” and I left her alone with her gun.

I started eating breakfast and I heard that Shane, Daryl and Andrea were going to town to get the guys back. It kinda worried me that they weren’t back yet and I just hoped they were okay. Daryl and Shane were already at the car loading guns, Andrea walked out of the RV with Dale on her tail. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but by the look on Dale’s face he wasn’t happy about something. That’s when a car drove on to the property and everyone stood up. They were back…

  
Everyone gathered around the car and Carl immediately ran towards his father as he stepped out of the car. Lori was next, wrapping her arms around her husband. I felt a bit bad for Hershel as Maggie walked passed him straight towards Glenn.   
“Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery” I watched as Hershel walked passed everyone entering his home. Glenn looked different; he stepped away from the car without saying a thing and the look in his eyes was something I wasn’t used seeing from him. Rick and Lori were talking to each other, I couldn’t hear what they were saying as my attention went towards the car. There was someone inside blindfolded and by the looks of it, passed out.   
“Who the hell is that?” T-Dogg asked before I could even open my lips wanted to know the same thing. All eyes were glued on the car, looking at the boy on the back seat.   
“That’s Randall” Glenn said, speaking for the first time since he stepped out of the car.

  
Moments later we all gathered inside the house, while Hershel was performing surgery on the kid. An argument started about the kid, I was in my own thoughts for a while.   
“We couldn’t just leave him behind, he would have bled out. If he even lived that long” I heard Rick say.   
“It’s gotten bad in town” Glenn added.   
“What do we do with him?” Andrea asked. That’s when Hershel came walking in wiping his hand on a rag.   
“I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he probably would have a nerve damage. He won’t be on his feet at least a week.” I felt tension in the room building up by the second.

“When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road and send him on his way” Daryl walked in and I looked at him for a second before turning my attention back to the group.   
“Isn’t that the same as leaving him for the walkers?” Andrea spoke again.   
“He’ll have a fighting chance” Rick replied.   
“You’re just going to let him go? He knows where we are,” Shane said, I slightly agreed with him, not that I felt like I had something to say in this.   
“He was blindfolded the whole way here, he’s not a threat”

Shane opened his mouth again, I sighed internally; another argument between Rick and Shane started.   
“Not a threat? How many were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain’t gonna come looking for him” Rick raised his voice   
“They left him for dead! No one is looking!” that’s when T-Dogg interfered.   
“We should still post a guard”   
“He’s out cold now, will be for hours,” Hershel added. Shane shifted in his place before walking away.

“You know what, I’m gonna go get him some flowers and candy” while storming off he still kept talking.   
“Look at this folks. We’re back in fantasyland” Hershel followed him.   
“You know, we haven’t even dealt with what you did at my barn yet. Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all. This is my farm! I wanted you gone, Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor… Keep your mouth shut” without responding to Hershel, Shane stormed out.   
“Look we’re not going to do anything about it today. Let’s just cool off” Rick said to Hershel and that’s when Andrea walked out.   
  
Soon after more people started to leave the room. I felt a bit conflicted with myself. I could understand Shane’s point of view, we didn’t know the guy and what if he does know where we are? What if he comes back with a bigger group than ours? But on the other side, they took me in too, without all this keeping guard nonsense. I saw that kid in the car, he was still in his teen years and with that messed up leg of his. What the hell can he do to a group as big as this? I looked around and saw I was the only one left in the room. I sighed, why was this new world so freaking complicated?

I pushed myself off the wall and stepped outside of the house. I looked around the property, people doing their own things. It made me feel useless to the group; I wanted to mean something to them. I wasn’t the kind to wash clothes or something; I wanted to bring something more than that.   
I knew Daryl was the hunter of the group, Glenn was the guy to go on runs, the whole freaking group was good with guns.   
I grabbed my bag and I started walking towards Daryl’s spot, maybe he could teach me. I had a steady hand, was good with my hands and kunai so why not try to learn how to hunt?

“What do you want now?” an irritated voice said. I looked over to the spot I had been sleeping last night. He never looked up from what he was doing; it looked like he was making new arrows.   
“I wanted to ask you for a favor” I said hesitantly, he just shook his head.   
“I don’t do favors” he simply replied. I took a few steps towards him and he finally looked at me.   
“Fine, a deal then.” I said placing my hand on my hips.   
“I want you to teach me how to hunt. I wanna mean something to this group if I’m staying and this is how I want to” he chuckled a bit.   
“And what do you have to offer me?” crap, he was right. I had nothing to offer this guy; it wasn’t like he needed to learn some fight moves.   
“Anything you want, I’ll owe you. It would be your decision” I spat out, without even thinking about the consequences. Within seconds he stood just inches away from me.   
“Do you even hear yourself?!” he yelled in my face, but I didn’t move and just looked him straight in his eyes.   
“Stupid girl” he muttered before walking away towards the woods after grabbing his crossbow. He stopped and looked at me over his shoulder.   
“Are ya coming or what?” I tried to keep a huge smile from forming on my face and just nodded. I quickly grabbed my second knife out of the bag and took my kunai set out of its case before running towards to woods, following Daryl’s footsteps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Another week has passed so time for another chapter. I did hope for some thoughts from you though. I really want to share something I really enjoy creating and I just like to know if you guys like it too.


	8. To Care or Not To Care

A week has passed since Randall arrived at the camp. The group had been debating about his faith all week, even though some didn’t agree, it was decided to drive him out 18 miles and leave him with some supplies.   
Daryl had been teaching me hunting this week; the first day was a disaster and had been really frustrating for both of us. I sucked at finding animal tracks, he tried to explain, but I just didn’t see it.   
That’s why I was surprised that he still wanted to teach me the next day. I did improve the next couple of days though, which gave me hope that I could be an asset to this group.   
Andrea and I still didn’t speak much, but we did treat each other with respect. I heard that Beth was doing a bit better, even though she hadn’t left her room yet. I wanted to offer my help, but I didn’t want to intrude their privacy either.

This morning Rick and Shane left to take Randall away and at the same time Daryl and I had left for yet another hunting lesson. Even though we didn’t talk much during the hunts, I felt like we were bonding. We had some luck today, 6 squirrels and 2 rabbits. We were walking in silence back to the camp, I was kind of proud of myself for catching one rabbit and 2 squirrels.   
It wasn’t the first time I caught something, but it was the first time I caught 3 animals in one day. We sat down and started to clean the animals we caught. I sliced the first squirrel open, when I overheard the rest of the group saying Beth had taken a knife for a suicide attempt. 

I sat there shocked with the bloody knife in my hand. I saw a hand waving in front of my face and I shook my head looking at Daryl.   
“I need to see Beth for a moment” was all I said, he looked at me in confusion while I stood up. Leaving my knife behind, I ran towards the house. I had no idea it was that bad!   
I entered the house and overheard Andrea and Lori arguing with each other and hearing a yelling Maggie from upstairs. Mistake number 1, yelling at a suicidal person about how much they have to live for and how wrong it is to end it. I decided to stay in the hallway downstairs for a moment, waiting for Maggie and Beth to stop their fight. I wrapped my arms around myself, hearing the things they yelled at each other was bringing back dark memories.

  
I had no idea how long I had been standing in the hallway, next thing I know Maggie came down the stairs.   
“Hey, how is Beth?” I asked kindly, Maggie faced me and she looked exhausted.   
“She’s a mess, Andrea is with her now” I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the kitchen.   
“You need to eat something.” I said before making a simple sandwich. I placed the plate in front of her, but she just looked at it while her head was resting in her hands.   
“Maybe I can help her” Maggie looked up with a questionable look in her eyes.   
“In the old days, I used to work with girls and boys in her position.” Hell, I even was in that position many years ago I, but I didn’t like to talk about my own experience.   
“Most important thing right now is for her not to be alone and have a listening ear.” Maggie nodded.   
“So you eat something and then we go upstairs together.” I said with a smile. Again Maggie nodded and she started eating the sandwich.

  
After a few moments Lori joined us in the kitchen, not much was said. Maggie went upstairs and I said I’d be there in a minute. That’s when I heard Maggie screaming for Beth to open the door. I ran upstairs with Lori close behind me.   
“What’s going on?” Lori asked as we entered the room.   
“She locked herself in” Maggie responded in panic while she kept banging on the door.   
“Let me” I said and she stepped aside. I placed my hands on the doorpost while I pulled my leg up before kicking the door with full strength.

The door broke open and there was a crying Beth with her hand on her bloody wrist.   
“I’m sorry” she cried, Maggie went inside and guided her to her bed while Lori grabbed a rag to stop the bleeding. I sat down next to Beth and put a hand on her back.   
“Get Hershel, she’s gonna need stiches” I said to Lori, who nodded and ran downstairs. I looked over at Maggie who was fuming with rage for Andrea and at the same time worried about her little sister. Beth was still crying, so I kept rubbing her back.   
I looked up when I heard footsteps, in the doorway was Hershel with a shocked look on his face and Lori behind him. As soon as her father had arrived Maggie stormed out with Lori in her trail. I guess she went looking for Andrea, I gave Hershel room to start with the stiches, but never left Beth’s side. I even grabbed a hold of her hand, I felt a bit bad for not offering my help sooner.

  
After Hershel finished the stiches, he left Beth and me alone. I was still holding her hand and I stroked the top with my thumb. The crying had stopped, she just stared to the ground. I squeezed her hand softly, hoping to get her to look at me, but I got no response.   
“Beth, I know we haven’t talked much since I got here and we don’t really know each other. But I want you to know, you can tell me anything. You can trust me.” She nodded while keeping her eyes glued to the ground.   
“Tell me how you feel right now” she just shrugged, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy especially because I’m practically a stranger for her.   
“You’re not alone in this Beth, I’ve been where you are. It gets better” that’s when she looked at me. I brushed a blonde streak out of her face and just smiled. 

“I just need to know one thing. Do you regret what you’ve done?” my voice remained calm and friendly. She looked at me with doubt written all over her face.   
“I guess” she answered me softly and she immediately looked away. I turned her head back with my free hand and looked her in her eyes.   
“It’s okay, tell me why you’re doubting” she hesitated for a few a moment while she shifted uncomfortably on the bed. I moved to the middle of the bed and crossed my legs. I padded on the bed in front of me for her to do the same.

Slowly she sat across from me and I grabbed both her hand this time.   
“It’s okay Beth, you can tell me everything, I won’t judge” I saw tears forming in her eyes and that’s when she flung her arms around my neck and started crying again. I placed one hand on her back and the other brushed through her hair. We sat there for a while, I even saw Maggie standing in the doorway. I just nodded at her letting her know I got it under control. I knew Maggie was sitting in the hallway while the bedroom door was open, she didn’t want to leave her sister alone again and I didn’t blame her. It took a while, but Beth finally spoke. She was still a bit shallow about her feelings towards me, which wasn’t a surprise for me. It will take time for her to really open up and when she was ready to do so I would be here for her.

It was getting dark when I left the Greene house, after I left Beth so she could get some rest I talked to Hershel and Maggie while Patricia was keeping an eye on Beth. I told them what I did for a living before all this happened, there for explaining how I knew how to help Beth. I also told them it was important for them to get Beth to talk to them about how she feels and most important not to overreact or start yelling, but remaining calm and listen to what she has to say. I was glad Hershel and Maggie agreed to let me talk to Beth every day so I could help them all get through this.

 

I joined the group at the fireplace but refused a plate, I wasn’t hungry considering I already had a sandwich at the Greene house.   
“How is she doing?” I looked up, seeing Andrea looking at me with a concerned look. I heard what she had said from Maggie and I was kind of pissed at her.   
“Fine, for now” I said calmly not wanting to ruin the good vibe between us. I just looked down to the ground trying to keep my thoughts to myself.   
“You know, what you did was really stupid” I guess I couldn’t.

I looked up and saw Andrea and the rest of the group looking at me confused.   
“Rule number one, never leave a suicidal person alone” my voice was sounding angrier now.   
“She made her choice to live didn’t she?” Andrea shot back at me.   
“Yeah, lucky for you!” I said with disgust.   
“I wanted to give her a choice! Something that was taking from me.” She responded, trying to right her wrong.

“Let me ask you this. Were you absolutely 100% clear in your head, the moment you wanted to end your life? Or were you grieving? Feeling left out?” I paused for a moment, but not long enough for Andrea to answer me.   
“Because I can assure you a 16 year old girl who just saw her family slaughtered in a shitty world like this isn’t thinking clearly. Her head is messed up and on that moment she can only see one way out.” I was kind of surprised I was able to keep my voice down and I wasn’t screaming at the blond woman in front of me.

“What do you know about it?” she asked with arrogance dripping from her words. I scoffed looking down to the ground again before looking Andrea back in the eyes.   
“I know more then you’ll ever know” trying to keep myself calm, but it was getting hard at this point.   
“Oh really? Enlighten us Kayleigh” trying to mock me and it was pissing me of.   
“I’ve been dealing with kids all kinds of ages, with the same thoughts. Day in, day out” I looked Andrea straight in the eyes   
“That was before the world was like this. What is there to life for right now?!” my breathing was getting heavier now, she was really getting on my nerves.

“The first kid I encountered with these urges was 9 and I saw her in my own mirror” my face was in a straight line.   
“After my own experiences I swore to myself I would do whatever I can to help others.” I stood up keeping my eyes connected with Andrea.   
“It doesn’t matter what is happening around us, every life is worth saving. Even the one that feels like there’s nothing left. Never let go of hope.” I noticed people were staring at me, but I just turned around and walked away. I almost bumped into Daryl, who was standing a few feet away from me. He just handed me my knife that I had left with him this afternoon. He looked at me, by that look I knew he heard what I just said to the rest of the group. We walked in our usual silence toward his tent. Well our tent I guess, I had been staying with him for a couple of days now. Since he preferred to hunt early in the morning, it seemed only logical that I stayed with him so we could go as soon as we both woke up.

  
It was early in the morning, Rick and Shane came back late last night. Well that’s what I heard, since I never went back after my sort of conversation with Andrea. Daryl did though, after he heard a car. They still had Randall with them and they both looked like shit. It made me wonder what happened to the two men. I was standing in the middle of the camp, but keeping my distance with the group a bit. We were waiting on an answer that Daryl would provide. He was with Randall right now, Rick asked him to interrogate Randall. I knew he was going to beat the kid and that felt wrong to me.   
“So what you’re gonna do? We would all feel better if we knew the plan” Lori asked while she was crouched down at the fire.   
“Is there a plan?” Andrea asked, followed by another question from Glenn.   
"Are we gonna keep him here?” I saw the looks Rick and Shane exchanged and it felt a bit off.   
“We’ll know soon enough” Rick answered and we all looked in the same direction as Rick seeing Daryl coming our way.

“Our boy there got a gang, 30 man. They got heavy artillery and they ain’t looking to make friends. They roll through here…. Our boys are dead… And our woman they’re gonna wish they were” chill ran down my spine as I listened to him.   
“What did you do?” Carol asked.   
“I had a little chat” and with that said Daryl walked away.   
“No one goes near this guy” Rick commanded. I just nodded and walked after Daryl.

I knew he noticed I was following him, but he didn’t acknowledge me. He stopped at the fire pit, took his jacket off and started to work on his arrows. I walked into our tent and got my medical kit. He looked at me when I came out again.   
“I don’t need that shit” he immediately said in his grumpy tone.   
“Well too bad, because I don’t want my teacher to get infections because he’s a stubborn ass” I said with a grin, I crouched down in front of him. The first time I grabbed his hand, he immediately pulled it away.   
“I can always kick you in the nuts, see if you cooperate then” He scoffed.   
“Like you even have the guts” I was about to response when I noticed he wasn’t struggling with me anymore. I cleaned both his knuckles, noticing it didn’t need bandages.   
“Well was that so bad?” I asked teasing him a bit. He just grunted and I got up again to put away the kit.   
“We leave in 5 minutes” he yelled after me.   
“Yes sir” my voice a bit overdramatic.

  
I sat down on the stretcher tying my shoes as tight as comfortable, I looked next to me to see if I had all the weapons I was going to need. I secured my knives on my body and my kunai in a small leather case Daryl and I found a couple days ago. It looked like a case for a flask, so you can hang it on your belt and it was perfect for my 9 small throwing knives. I was about to leave the tent when I heard Daryl’s voice.

“The whole point of me coming up here, is to get away from you people.” I was curious to who came all the way up here, that’s when I heard Dale’s voice.   
“It’s gonna take more than that” I know it wasn’t right to eavesdrop, but I also didn’t want to interrupt their conversation.   
“Did Carol send ya?” there was a small opening in the doorway of the tent and I peeked through it, as my curiosity got the best of me.   
“Carol’s not the only one who’s concerned about your new role in the group”   
“I don’t need my head shrunk, this group’s broken. I’m better off fending for myself” I kinda felt bad for Dale, who is just trying to look out for everyone.   
“You act like you don’t care” Daryl grabbed his jacket before answering Dale.

“Yeah, because I don’t” That answer kind of hurt me a bit, I know he didn’t owe me anything, but still it hurt.   
“So live or die, you don’t care what happens to Randall?”   
“Nope”   
“Then why not stand with me and try to save the kid’s life? If it really doesn’t matter one way or the other” Daryl had turned his back to Dale by now, putting on his jacket.   
“I didn’t peg you for a desperate son of a bitch” That’s when I stepped outside of the tent, Daryl was crossing the line here.   
“Your opinion makes a difference” they didn’t even notice me, since I was standing behind Dale.   
“Man, ain’t nobody gonna look at me for nothing” Dale followed Daryl who was walking away right now, was he seriously leaving without me?

“Carol is. And I am, right now. And you obviously have Rick’s ear” Daryl turned back looking angry at Dale.   
“Rick looks to Shane. Let him” the two man were still not noticing me, so I got closer.   
“You cared about what happened to Sophia, you cared what it meant to the group” Daryl turned back again and this time he saw me since I was standing directly behind Dale.  
“Torturing people? That isn’t you. You’re a decent man. So is Rick…. Shane is different” Even though he looked at me for a second he ignored me.   
“Why is that? Because he killed Otis?” I was in shock.

“Who told you that?” Dale asked, a bit surprised.   
“He tells some story, how Otis covered him and saved his ass. He showed up with a dead guy’s gun. Rick ain’t stupid. He didn’t figure that out because he didn’t wanna…. Just like I said. This group is broken” and he walked away again. I placed my hand on Dale’s shoulder who was a bit startled.   
“For what it’s worth. I think you’re right, killing Randall isn’t the solution.” He smiled and wanted to respond. 

“Parker! I’m not waiting all day” I heard yelling from the edge of the woods.   
“You have my support” I said with a smile before running towards Daryl. I looked back over my shoulder one more time, seeing Dale just standing there for a moment before walking back to the rest of the group. I took a kunai out of the case, wanting to be ready if I saw anything. I walked close behind Daryl looking closely to my surroundings, but I couldn’t concentrate. I just stopped walking and I saw Daryl looking confusingly over his shoulder.   
“Did you have to be so harsh with Dale?” I asked, he didn’t stop walking and looked in front of him again.   
“It’s none of your goddamn business” he said grumpy, I sighed and started to walk again not wanting to lose him in the middle of the woods. We walked for quite some time, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t concentrate on hunting our dinner.

  
I looked to the side at Daryl, did he really mean what he said to Dale? I looked back in front of me while I was twirling the kunai in my right hand. And then Shane, was that really true? Did he really kill an innocent man? I looked at the ground for a moment, this wasn’t going to work. I had too many questions. I stopped again, this time I was a couple of feet in front of Daryl. I turned around, meeting his eyes. He stood still lowering his crossbow, waiting for me to talk.   
“Did you mean it?” I asked, he looked at me a little confused.   
“Did you mean it, that you don’t care about anyone in that group?” he scoffed and stepped a little closer.

“Yeah so what? Mind your own business woman” I sighed and threw my hands in the air.   
“Fine” I shook my head and took a few steps back.   
“I’ll stop asking questions from now on” I set my right foot back one more step and I immediately felt it slip away from under me. While I felt my body fall down my left arm was raised in the hope to grab a hold of something.

Something grabbed me instead, I looked up and saw Daryl looking down while his other hand grabbed my arm. He pulled me up and I looked down for a second. Daryl let his body fall back at the end, causing me to be pulled on top of him. I caught myself with my right hand next to his head. Our faces were just inches apart, I felt my heart race like crazy and I felt his hot breath on my face. One hand was on my left arm and the other was laying besides him.   
“Thanks” I breathed, I was still a bit out of breath because of what just happened. That’s when I felt a sting in my right hand, within seconds I was of off him. I dropped my small knife and looked at my hand, which had two bloody lines on it.   
“Shit” I murmured, he shot up sitting in front of me. He grabbed my hand and grabbed a bottle of water to wash the dirt and excess blood of the wounds.

  
Having Daryl close to me again, made my heart rate fastening again. I haven't seen this caring side of him since my breakdown.   
"It's not that deep, I just need to bandage it" I said while slowly pulling my hand away and grabbed my kunai that laid next to me. I made a small tear in my black razorback top I was wearing and tore of a small strip of the hem so I could bind my hand.

I felt Daryl's stare on me when I wrapped the piece of fabric around my hand in a few seconds.   
"I used to tape my own hands before a match" I said with a smile, even though he hasn't spoken to me yet, I didn't feel awkward at all. I looked at him and noticed his eyes had gone down to the sides of my body. I looked down and saw that now my top was shorter and on my left side yellow stripes of my tattoo was showing. My right side revealed red cherry blossom from my other tattoo.

He must have seen them before when he brought me here and he was there in the room when I got undressed, but still I caught him staring. I felt my cheeks burn up and my heart rate started to go faster again. What the hell was wrong with me? Why did my body respond like a lovesick teenager when I was with this man. I couldn’t possibly like him like that, could I? Yeah he was handsome, but I hardly knew the guy and he was nothing like the guys I dated when the world was still normal. He looked up, our eyes met, but nothing was said. There was something about this man that definitely got my attention, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then the conversation he had with Dale earlier popped back in my head. He told Dale that he didn’t care about anyone in this group, but still he saved my life and he seemed to be worried a moment ago when my hand was bleeding. Before I could even think my words through they flowed out of my mouth.

“I thought you didn’t care” I immediately regretted it since he looked away and got on his feet. I looked down to the ground hating myself for ruining the moment.   
“Let’s head back, let Hershel take a look at that cut” I looked up again, seeing him pick up his crossbow of the ground and slinging it on over his shoulder. Before I could tell him it wasn’t that bad and I could still go on hunting he spoke again.   
“Besides, it’s almost time for Randall’s verdict” He held out his hand towards me, to help me get up. I took it with my left hand after I grabbed my kunai. He still didn’t look at me and just walked back. I sighed softly before following him back to the camp, that man was one big mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Like you might have noticed, I upload a new chapter every Monday. You might also have noticed that I don't always follow the storyline of the show. I would love to hear what you guys think of the little twists I've written so far. And perhaps maybe do bigger twists or not. Just let me know your thoughts! What you like about, or what you don't.. I'm always open for some feedback!


	9. Life and Death

Most of the group was already inside waiting for Rick and Lori, I stood next to Dale leaning against the doorpost. I was looking at my hand, Hershel bandaged it properly, but to me it was a waste of bandage. It wasn’t that deep and my shirt was good enough for it, but Hershel insisted on it. I looked up from time to time, scanning the group.   
The tension in this room was thick and it made me feel very uncomfortable, I felt like I shouldn’t be here. I looked up when I heard a door squeak and saw Rick and Lori walk in. I saw Carl wanting to join the conversation, but his parents gave him a stern look and he sighed and walked away. I was glad Carl wasn’t here, this wasn’t an appropriate topic for a kid. Hell, we were going to discuss whether we kill Randall or not, even I didn’t want to be here.   
It felt so wrong, why do we want to kill the living when there are already enough deaths because of those walkers out there? Yeah I call them walkers now, I picked it up from the rest of the group. Silence filled the room, everyone occasionally looked at each other, but not long.

“So how do we do this? Take a vote?” Glenn spoke out of nowhere.   
“Does it have to be anonymous?” Andrea asked.   
“How about majority rules?” Lori added. Rick just shuffled in his place before speaking   
“Let’s just see where everybody stands. Then we can talk through the options” I felt a burden on my heart, it all felt so wrong.   
“Hell the way I see it. There’s only one way to move forward” Shane said, like he didn’t even care that we are discussing a young man’s faith.

“Killing him, right?” Dale responded while looking at everyone in the group.   
“Why even bother to take a vote, it’s clear which way the wind is blowing” he added.   
“If people believe we should spare him, I wanna know” Rick told everyone.   
“Well I can tell ya it’s a small group. Maybe just me, Glenn and Kayleigh” He looked at me for a moment before looking at Glenn.   
“Look I… I think you’re pretty much right about everything all the time, but this…” Dale didn’t even let Glenn finish.

“They got you scared” Glenn immediately jumped in the defense   
“He’s not one of us and we lost too many people already” I scuffed,   
“I wasn’t one of ‘you’” I added exaggerating the you part.

People didn’t even look at me, Dale just nodded to me to let me know he heard me.   
“How about you? Do you agree with this?” he asked Maggie. She looked from Dale to Rick   
“Couldn’t we continue keeping him prisoner?” that’s when Daryl spoke   
“Just another mouth to feed” Hershel spoke up too   
“It may be a lean winter”   
“We could ration better” Lori said.

“Or he could be an asset. Give him a change to prove himself” Dale defended.   
“Put him to work?” Glenn asked.   
“We’re not letting him walk around” Rick said in his stubborn tone.   
“We could put an escort on him” Maggie shot back.   
“Who wants to volunteer for that duty?” Shane asked with a mocking tone.

“I will” Dale and I said at the same time.   
“I don’t think any of us should be walking around with this guy” Rick interrupted.   
“He’s right, I wouldn’t feel safe unless he’s tied” Lori added.   
“We can’t exactly put chains around his ankles and sentence him to hard labor” Andrea shot back. Damn this conversation was getting on my nerves. Shane spoke again

“Look, say we let him join us. Alright maybe he’s helpful, maybe he’s nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs out brings back his 30 men.”   
“So we kill him? To prevent a crime he may never even attempt?! If we do this, we’re saying there’s no hope. Rule of law is dead and there is no civilization.” Dale yelled, he was losing his patience too.   
“Oh my god” Shane muttered.   
“Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?” Hershel asked.   
“You barely came back this time. There’re walkers, you could break down. You could get lost” Lori objected.   
“You could get ambushed” Daryl added.

“He’s right, we should not put our own people at risk” Glenn said. I was holding back right now, I wanted to yell at them saying I was a stranger too and they still took me in!   
“If you go through with it…. How would you do it? Would he suffer?” Patricia hesitantly asked.   
“We could hang him right? Just snap his neck.” Shane said in a cool tone.   
“I thought about that. Shooting may be more humane” Rick said, but hearing his voice he wasn’t fully comfortable with it.   
“What about the body? Do we bury it?” T-Dogg asked.

“Ho ho ho! Hold on, you’re talking about this like it’s already decided.” Dale yelled.   
“You’ve been talking all day, going around circles. You just wanna go around circles again?” Daryl asked who was now pacing.   
“This is a young man’s life! And it’s worth more than a five minute conversation!! Is this what it’s come to? We kill someone, because we can’t decide what else to do with him? You saved him! And now look at us… He’s been tortured. He’s gonna be executed… How are we any better than those people we’re so afraid of?” everyone just stared at Dale. I was so done with this shit!

I took a few steps forward so I was standing in the middle of the room.   
“You know what surprises me most” I said calmly looking at everyone one by one.   
“I was a stranger too…No one knew me, Yeah Daryl had seen me before, but he didn’t know what happened to me in the meantime” I said getting more worked up. I saw in the corner of my eye that Shane wanted to interrupt me and I just threw my hand up signing him to shut up.   
“What if I was just a decoy? Or a scout for a bigger group huh? You treat this young man like a freaking terrorist because he chose a dangerous group to survive with.” I was turning around while speaking.   
“What if I was just gathering information about you, waiting for the right moment to let my group take control of this place. But noooo you just assumed I could be trusted” I said with a disgusted tone.

“Is it because I wasn’t trying to shoot you? Or because I mentioned I was looking for a little girl, which you guys lost? Or is it because I’m a girl?” nobody spoke, everyone turned their heads away, except for Dale.   
“I can’t believe how much you changed over this short amount of time. If you really want to kill an innocent kid because of where he came from. Then I really underestimated you guys. Because I thought you were a group that helped people! Not kill someone before even trying to get to know the person” Dale nodded, agreeing with every word I said.  
“So can someone please tell me why I wasn’t put away? Blindfolded.. tortured?” I was still looking around the first to look at me was Glenn.

“It was different with you” he said hesitantly.   
“Why?! Why the fuck was it different with me? Because I didn’t came in guns blazing?” I was outraged.   
“Daryl vowed for you” Rick said in his still calm voice.   
“Then I’ll vow for Randall, if anything happens I’m to blame.” I said trying to calm myself down.   
“You don’t know this guy..” I interrupted rick

“And Daryl ‘Knew’ me?! Hell I saw the guy and his grabby brother at a gas station and again for a few hours at the traffic jam. If that’s what it takes to get to know somebody, hell I’ll sit with Randall for a couple of hours talking about bullshit.” Rick looked away again, I sighed when nobody responded to me anymore and I turned to Dale.   
“I’m sorry Dale, I can’t listen to this anymore. It’s killing me to know that people can be so cruel. I support you 100%, but I can’t take this….I’m sorry” With tears burning in my eyes I stormed out. Passing Rick and Daryl, but not having the strength to look them in the eyes.

I was running away from the house, not knowing where I was going, but I needed to get away from that house. I felt horrible for leaving Dale alone, but I just couldn’t stay and listen to that shit anymore. I stopped as soon as my vision was too blurry to see something, I wiped my eyes with my hands and looked in front of me. I was a few feet away from the shed Randall was kept in, I wanted so badly to just go there and break the kid out. I just couldn’t do that either, it wasn’t my decision to make unfortunately. I felt like I was being torn apart on the inside by these mixed feelings. I leaned back against a tree and just stared at the barn, not knowing what I should do. If I freed Randall I would certainly be kicked out of this group and I didn’t want to be on my own without any vehicle. But on the other side, do I really want to be a part of a group that so easily kills a human being just because they don’t know what else to do with him?

  
I turned my head hearing footsteps coming towards me, it was Dale with a defeated look on his face.   
“I’m sorry I left you there on your own” I said looking down at my feet, feeling too ashamed to look at him.   
“It’s okay, it wouldn’t have made a difference. They made up their minds before we even walked in there” he said while placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him, he smiled at me, but his eyes told something else.   
“We did all we could, it’s too bad it wasn’t enough” he sighed and walked towards the RV. I let myself slide down the tree, pulled my legs up and wrapping my arms around them while my head rested on my knees.

 

It was getting dark and the temperature dropped a bit, but I didn’t care even though I was still wearing the same top as this afternoon. I heard voices from the distance and it made me look up. I saw Rick, Shane and Daryl walking towards the shed. A pit formed in my stomach knowing what they were coming for. I stood up again looking at the three men, they slowed down a bit when they saw me.   
“Is this really the way to do this?” I asked desperately one last time.   
“I’m sorry Kayleigh. It’s decided” Rick said before looking towards the ground and taking the key out of his pocket to open the shed. I looked at the other two men, Shane didn’t even look my way he just looked at the lantern he was holding. Daryl did, but not for long.

As soon as the shed was open, Daryl went in and dragged Randall out with his hands still chained to his back. He looked confused and nervous at the two men in front of him. Shane handed Rick the lantern and they started walking towards the barn.   
Rick in the front, Shane right behind him and Daryl at the back pushing Randal forwards. Without thinking about it I followed them, slowly getting closer to the barn. I stopped when they entered the barn, still not believing this was really going to happen. I wasn’t that close to the barn, but close enough to hear Randall pleading for his life.   
My heart sunk and I pressed my arms against my chest while closing my eyes waiting for the gunshot. The shot never came, I opened my eyes when I swore I heard Carl’s voice. I didn’t hear what the little boy said but next thing I know Shane had dragged Carl to the entrance of the barn.

Seconds later Shane looked back before pushing the other door open and storming of. Daryl came out next pushing Randall in front of him again. A sigh of relief left my mouth, as Daryl passed me with Randall blindfolded in front of him. I needed to find Dale, to tell him it didn’t happen. I looked around, walking in all kinds of direction to find him, when I heard someone scream.

I started to run as fast as I could towards the sound, I jumped over a fence and saw Daryl coming from my right. Side by side we ran as fast as we could, another scream filled the air, but this time you could hear the pain. We found Dale, laying on the ground with a walker on top of him. Daryl jumped and pushed the walker off of Dale before stabbing it in its head. I let myself fall down next to Dale, shocked to see the amount of blood coming from his abdominal. Without even thinking twice I took of my top, not caring that I was only in my bra right now and pressed it on his wound hoping it would slow the bleeding down. Sounds of pain escaping Dale’s mouth as I put pressure on his stomach. I saw Daryl stand up, waving his arms in the air.

“Help!! Over here!! Help! Run!” he knelt down on the other side of Dale.   
“Hang in there buddy” he said trying to calm Dale down. “Daryl….he’s losing a lot of blood” I said beginning to panic, my top was drenched in blood and I felt my hands getting wet. Rick and Shane were the next to arrive. I heard an ‘oh my god’ but I didn’t know who said it. Rick knelt down next to me and cupped Dale’s face.   
“Listen to me alright, listen to my voice” Andrea fell down on my other side.   
“Hang in there.” Rick said softly before yelling   
“Get Hershel!” I felt Dale’s body shake underneath my hands and I was starting to fear the worst.

That’s when I stopped hearing what was said around me and I just looked in shock down at my hands which were covered in blood. After what felt like forever I felt someone’s hands on top of mine, I looked up. My eyes met Hershel’s eyes and the way he looked said enough to me. One tear rolled of my cheek as removed the pressure from Dale’s body. Andrea was crying and muttering something, my mind couldn’t translate right now. I looked to Dale’s face, but I couldn’t get eye contact. I closed my eyes, hoping I could hold back the rest of the tears. A couple of them escaped anyway, I heard multiple things being said around me, but I never actually heard the words. My eyes shot open as I heard the gun shot and I felt blood spatters hit my face. Daryl sat down on one knee, Rick’s gun in his hand. My eyes traveled towards Dale’s face, a bullet hole on his forehead and his eyes wide open.

  
He was gone.. it felt so unreal, but Dale was gone.   
“Come on Kayleigh” I heard a sobbing Andrea say next to me and felt the warmth of a hand getting closer. I raised my hand as a sign to stop.   
“Don’t!! touch me…” My body began to shake a little, I didn’t know if it was anger or the cold, but it didn’t matter.

  
The first person that made me feel welcome here in this group… was dead.  
The first person I could really talk with…was gone.  
The man who cared about the life’s of others….. was killed.

  
Something heavy and warm hit my shoulders and before I could object I was pulled up on my feet. My legs felt wobbly, but the person that pulled me up kept me in balance. I looked at my shoulder seeing that it was a thick vest inside a leather cut, I knew only one person in this group wore this.   
“Get yourself cleaned up, we’ll take care of the rest” his voice never sounded this serene before, I quickly looked at Daryl’s face before nodding softly. His hands lefts my shoulders, but were replaced with female one’s.   
“Come on, I’ll help ya” I heard the soft voice of Carol whisper in my ears. I let myself get dragged towards the camp by Carol. I was sat down, I felt multiple eyes burning on my skin. Even though all I could look at was the meadow where Dale’s life was taking away by the dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you all! Another Monday another chapter. This one is a little shorter thant the precious one, but I'm working on them to make them longer!  
> I'm a little upset that I still haven't heard from any of you guys, I still have fun writing this though. But it would be nice to hear some feedback from the readers.  
> So if you like the story leave some kudo's or a comment and if there is something you don't like, you can tell me as well.


	10. Changes

I was laying on my bed staring at the ceiling of the tent. I had no idea for how long I’ve been staring, but I did know sleep wasn’t an option. Every time I closed my eyes all I could see was Dale, his eyes white open and blood dripping from his forehead. When I walked into the tent a couple hours ago, Daryl was already asleep.   
I almost fell asleep at the campsite after everyone had gone to bed, but I was stopped by my thoughts.   
I walked back to the edge of the property in the hope to clear my head, but nothing worked. So I gave up and just decided to lie down. I didn’t even bother to crawl in to the sleeping bag I just laid on top. I was still wearing Daryl’s jacket so I wasn’t cold.

The weird thing though, I liked the scent coming off of it. It was a mixture of all kinds of smells, but I liked it. It was also what kept me busy these last few hours, trying to figure out why I liked it so much.   
I looked to the side and saw Daryl, peacefully sleeping. It frustrated me a lot that I couldn’t figure him out, just like I couldn’t figure out why I was so fascinated by him.   
I sighed before looking back up, what the hell was going on with me. Normally I would fall for a guy after really getting to know him, but Daryl?

I didn’t know shit about him, so why was I even thinking about falling for him? After staring at the ceiling for a little while longer I noticed it was getting a little lighter outside. I jumped up and grabbed my bag.   
I grabbed a sports top and Thai boxing shorts, I decided to go for a run around the property. I always went running when I couldn’t sleep, but back then it was safer when you wanted to run in the dark.

After I changed I grabbed my black hoodie and fastened my knife on my bare leg, just in case. I looked over my shoulder while I was tying my hair in a high ponytail, to see Daryl was still sound asleep. I tied my combat boots, missing my sneakers badly, but these were my only pair of shoes I brought.   
I stepped outside and immediately felt the cool air hit my legs. I pulled my hood over my head and started running along the side of the fence.

I kept my distance from the fence though, not trusting the high grass after what happened last night. I loved the cool morning air hitting my face, I felt like it took all the bad thoughts straight out of my head.   
I loved how big this property was, I could really get used to running around here. I was passing a couple of trees and one seemed the have branches strong enough to make this run a good workout.   
I ran towards it and jumped up grabbing one of the branches. I pulled myself up and it felt great, ignoring the stinging feeling in my right hand. I haven’t had a good work out since this world went to shit.   
If I could find the right stuff to build a wing chun dummy that would even be more perfect. I would probably need some help building it, but maybe someone could help me with that.

  
I let myself fall after I pulled myself up multiple times and I ended up on one knee and my hands on the ground. I felt a smile forming on my lips, but as soon as I looked up it disappeared. I looked in front of me and saw 3 graves, 2 big ones and a small one. Right in front of me was what I guessed Dale’s body wrapped in a sheet.   
I slowly got up while removing my hood, since the barn incident I’ve been avoiding this place. Not wanting to be reminded that Sophia was gone because of me. There wasn’t a grave for Dale yet, probably because it was too dark last night. I started to look around the house in search of a shovel, it was not like I had something better to do right now.

I found a shovel pretty soon and jogged back to the graves. I just stood there for a moment looking around, taking in the serenity the farm had.   
The first sunrays where coming through the trees and it was completely silent. I turned back and started to dig, even though my hand hurt a bit more I kept going.   
It wasn’t long before the sunrays on my back and the shoveling made my body temperature rise so I took my hoodie of and threw it to the side. Sweat was starting to drip from my body, but I kept going. I heard footsteps coming closer and I looked up seeing Rick, Glenn and Shane walking towards me.

“Goodmorning Kayleigh” Glenn said, I just gave him a small smile before going back to what I was doing.   
“Morning” is softly said while looking at the dirt I was digging the shovel in. I saw Glenn and Shane walking away in the corner of my eye, then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw that Rick jumped down in the grave with me.

“How are you now?” he asked with a soft tone and I just shrugged.   
“Fine” before I could continue Rick had placed his hand on top of my own to stop me from digging.   
“You look a bit tired, did you even sleep?” he asked a bit concerned. I just shrugged again   
“It’s not the first time I’ve gone without sleep. I’m fine” Rick grabbed the shovel out of my hands.   
“Why don’t you rest for a bit before the service” I sighed and climbed out of the grave.

I grabbed the hoodie off of the ground and bound it around my waist. I saw Glenn and Shane come back with rocks in their arms. I started running again, resting wasn’t an option. As I was running I saw more people getting up, but still it was pretty quiet on the property. I ended up at my tent again and didn’t see Daryl outside yet. Maybe he joined Rick and the others at the graves. I just walked inside the tent to see a half-naked angry Daryl.

“Damnit woman! Can’t I have some privacy!” I immediately turned around   
“I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were still in here” I felt my cheeks burning up. I stepped outside, waiting for Daryl to come out, so I could go in and change. I realized what I just saw, Daryl’s back was covered with scars and it actually made sense a bit. Linking his behavior to his probably difficult past. Seconds later Daryl came out looking irritated, he was wearing his leather cut again, but this time with a different shirt underneath it. I didn’t have the courage to look at him so I directly went inside the tent instead. I heard him walk away and I just sat down on my bed. I just sat there staring at the ground while softly rubbing my wounds on my hand. I closed my eyes a couple of times, but the image of Dale remained. I sighed, but never moved.

“Parker! Are you dead or something?” Daryl stormed inside and I just looked up. Now realizing tears were running down my cheeks. He stood there for a second not knowing what to say until he looked at my hands.   
“You stupid girl” he grunted as he knelt down in front of me. I looked at my right hand and saw that the bandage was covered in blood. That was the first time I felt the pain again, I must have opened it during the work out or just now when I was in my own little world. I looked at Daryl’s face while he was applying new bandages on my hand. Thinking about the scars I’d seen earlier, he probably doesn’t want to talk about it, but damn was I curious about the history of this man in front of me. He stood up and looked away.   
“Now get ready if you want. Funeral starts in 5” he said before leaving me alone again.

I stood up and grabbed my bag again placing it on my bed. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a green plaid shirt. I threw my shorts and hoodie back in the back, deciding to keep my sports top on underneath the plaid shirt. While walking outside I untied my hair and started to braid it while walking towards the graves.   
Everyone was gathered around the four graves, nobody said anything or looked too long at someone. The mood was tense and I kept my distance a bit. I looked down at the grave where Dale was lying in right now.

After a few more moments of silence Rick held the eulogy.   
“Dale could get under your skin, he sure got under mine. Because he wasn’t afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I’d make a decision, I look at Dale and he would be looking back at me with that look he had. We all seen it one time or another. I couldn’t always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us, the truth…who we really are. In the end he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group is broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves, take control of our lives, our safety and our future. We’re not broken, we’re gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we’re gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale.”

  
While Rick was talking I had wrapped my arms around myself again, it was a habit of mine. I felt like I could stop myself from falling apart if I did that.   
After the service everyone went their own way, but I stayed. I sat down in between the graves of Dale and Sophia, looking at the landscape in front of me.   
“I’m sorry I never visited you little girl” I said laying a hand on the ground and looking down at her grave.   
“It was just too painful, I hope you can understand. I wish you were still here though, I would’ve loved to get to know you better.” I patted the ground softly and looked to my right.   
“I hope Rick is right buddy. I hope we can save this group and be the way you wanted” I felt my eyes burning again.   
“Although that would have been easier if you were still here!” and then the tears fell once again. I looked back in front of me, keeping both hands on the ground.   
“I promise you both, I would do anything I can to keep this family together”

  
Time passed by and Rick came and told me that we were moving in the house today. I just nodded and went to the tent. I was cleaning out the tent of all the stuff, I was done with my stuff pretty quick since I never unpacked my bag. I was gathering Daryl’s belongings when he arrived back. He, shane, T-Dogg and Andrea went away, guessing they were checking the perimeter.   
I was waiting for him to yell at me for touching his things but he didn’t. Instead he just started with the beds. In no time and not speaking a word, we had cleared everything out and started breaking down the tent.

We brought our stuff to the house and helped out the others. I heard Rick calling orders to everyone, I was just gathering all kinds of things and placing them in the vehicles. I overheard Rick talking about Randall, that he and Daryl were going to cut him loose. Of course Shane disagreed, I wasn’t sure if it was only because of Randall though. I think he didn’t like the fact that he was taking Daryl with him this time.   
While packing the last of the things I kept my eyes on Shane every now and then, not trusting the guy. I didn’t know what it was, but I just had a really bad feeling about the guy.

As the vehicles where driven towards the house, I walked behind Rick, Hershel and Andrea. Again I overheard their conversation, apparently I wasn’t the only one not trusting Shane’s motives. I also overheard Rick asking Andrea to keep an eye on things with Hershel, while he and Daryl were gone, especially Shane. While they talked I wanted to keep my distance a bit, but I wasn’t really sure if Andrea was the right person for the job. Sure she was getting along with Shane better than anyone else at the moment, but I wasn’t convinced if she would have the right judgment on things right now. While I was letting my mind take over, I hadn’t noticed Rick had stopped walking and was standing in front of me.

“Kayleigh” I looked up to the former sheriff.   
“I wanted to ask if you could be my eyes and ears while I’m gone. You know telling me if something happened or if someone isn’t acting the way they should” I was a bit surprised that he asked me that, instead of his wife or Hershel himself.   
“Sure, no problem” those were the first words I said since the funeral. He smiled at me and together we walked towards the house.

  
After everything was moved in to the house, I looked around finding a good place to make my bed. I felt locked and surrounded. 15 people in one house was a lot and it freaked me out a bit. 15 people living, eating, breathing and doing their things in one house.   
I decided to place my sleeping bag underneath a window, keeping my distance as much as I could in the small space I had to share with the other women. The guys were sleeping at the other side of the house, it was going to be weird not sleeping next to Daryl, but I think being stuffed in this house was going to be harder to adjust.

I set my bag on top of my makeshift bed, still not wanting to unpack it. My dad always told me that if you’re not sure how long you can stay, never get too comfortable. Always be ready to move as quickly as you can and for some reason I was doubting the fact that we could make this our home for the long run.   
I looked outside the window and saw Beth and Jimmy. They were barring the windows and I felt a knot in my stomach.   
Great, not only were we crowded in a small space, they were making it feel even smaller. I got a little nervous and decided to go outside to see if anyone needed any help with something. I knew the only way I was going to be able to live inside the house, was going outside whenever I could.

  
I was sitting on the porch taking a break, I ended up helping Jimmy and Beth even though I didn’t like what they did to the windows, I knew it needed to be done. Plus that way I could talk to Beth a bit, since I hadn’t had the opportunity yesterday.   
I decided to keep the topics light, her talking was good enough for me at the moment. Starting tomorrow it would be the talks I had planned and promised to Hershel and Maggie. I was looking in front of me, Rick and Daryl were about to leave to drop Randall off somewhere. T-Dogg walked away towards the shed to pick up Randall and I walked up to the porch railing.   
“Be careful boys” I said with genuine concern in my voice.   
“Thanks, no need to worry, we’ll be fine” Rick responded with a small smile and Daryl just nodded.

  
I saw that Rick and Daryl’s attention were taken away and I looked back to see what it was. T-Dogg was running towards us and the look on his face didn’t predict much good.  
“He’s gone” he said out of breath. Without hesitation we ran towards the shed, Rick went inside first and came out cursing.

“What’s going on?” We all turned to see Glenn with a worried look on his face and behind him everyone that was inside the house.   
“We saw you running away” Lori said catching her breath.   
“Randall’s gone” was all Rick said. Once again panic struck the group, Randall was missing, we all looked around for clues on how he could have escaped. But it just didn’t make sense, the door was locked with a pad lock which was still intact and every other way out was barricaded.

People started discussing possibilities when we heard someone shouting for Rick. It was Shane, he marched towards us with blood covering his nose and running down his face. According to Shane, Randall snuck up on him and knocked him out stealing his gun. While I was thinking about his story, Rick told T-Dogg and Hershel to get to group back in the house. He, Shane, Daryl and Glenn where going out to look for him.

“Rick, let me help. I learned a lot from Daryl the past couple days, I can help” but Rick just shook his head.   
“If Randall gets back here, I need people like you to protect the group. You, T-Dogg and Andrea need to protect the group. Understand” I just nodded, even though I was a bit disappointed.   
I went back inside the house just like the rest of the group. After I secured my knives and kunai on my body, I stood watch by one of the windows. There was a small gab between the boards so I could look outside, T-Dogg and Andrea did the same while the rest of the group nervously paced around the house or finding their place to put their belongings.

  
Time went by and it was getting darker outside. The longer I stood there, the more I thought about Shane’s story. The things just didn’t add up, Randall was way smaller then Shane and wasn’t in the best shape. So how come a wounded kid like Randall, could sneak up on Shane and knock him out? If the stories I heard about Shane were true it wouldn’t be the first time he lied to get his way and we all knew he wanted Randall dead.   
It was completely dark outside, but the guys still weren’t back yet. That’s when Andrea spoke the words I thought off.

“I’m going after them” I turned around and wanted to say I was coming with her when Lori spoke.   
“Don’t, they could be anywhere and if Randall comes back we’re gonna need you here” a door creaked and we all looked in the same direction when Daryl and Glenn came walking in.   
“Rick and Shane ain’t back?” Daryl asked while looking around the room.

“No” I answered.   
“We heard a shot” hearing that made me nervous a bit.   
“Maybe they found Randall” Lori responded to Daryl.   
“We found him” I felt a bit relieved.   
“Is he back in the shed?” Maggie asked.

“He’s a walker” and my relieve was gone.   
“Did you find the walker that bit him?” Hershel asked.   
“No, the weird thing is. He wasn’t bit” Glenn spoke.   
“He broke his neck” Daryl added.   
"So he fought back?” Patricia asked in a nervous tone.

“The thing is Shane and Randall’s were right on top of each other. Shane ain’t no tracker, so he didn’t come up behind him. No, they were together.” Hearing that pretty much confirmed my theories.   
“Will you please get back out there to find Rick and Shane and find out what is going on” Lori stepped up. Daryl nodded   
“Sure you got it” he said before walking away again.   
Andrea and Glenn followed him out, my mind was going on and on about what was happening right now. There had to be a reason for Shane to do all this, it couldn’t be all about Randall could it? Before I knew it Patricia was killing all the lights around me and Andrea grabbed the bag of guns.

“What’s going on?” I asked in confusion.   
“Walkers” was all I got from Andrea. I ran outside standing beside the rest of the group and what I saw shocked me. Everywhere I looked I saw walkers and they were all coming our way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys! I've added a picture of Kayleigh at the end of chapter one. So if you're curious on how she looks like in my head, you can check it out. I will probably add more pictures at the end of chapters, like when I'm introducing someone new.  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Longer chapters will be coming I promise!


	11. Leaving it all Behind

“Oh shit” I muttered while standing frozen to the ground. People were panicking around me and I was about to do the same. That’s when I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Glenn wanting to hand me a gun. I just shook my head.  
“All I’ll be is a waste of ammo” he nodded softly before leaving with Maggie.  
I realized more people were gone, it was only me and Hershel outside of the farmhouse. Hershel was shooting his shotgun and I felt useless again. I heard panic voices inside the house and decided to go inside. 

Beth and Patricia were inside staring outside the window when Lori and Carol came barging down. They couldn’t find Carl anywhere, all kinds of possibilities were said on the whereabouts of Carl. Within seconds Lori and Carol went outside again, still discussing where Carl could be.  
“Beth! Patricia! Kayleigh! Come on, we got to go” Carol shouted from the door way. The girls immediately ran outside.  
“I’ll be right there!” I yelled back, I wasn’t leaving without grabbing as much as I can. 

I started to gather things around me, starting off with my own bag slinging it over my head. Every shot I heard coming from outside made me more nervous as they were fired more rapidly. I ran downstairs knowing Hershel put some emergency supplies downstairs, I was grateful Hershel left them in a crate. I grabbed it and ran back upstairs grabbing every blanket I saw while running towards the door. When I was outside, I saw the girls left and frankly I wasn’t blaming them. I just hoped they were alright. I looked to my right and saw Hershel still shooting while walking backwards towards the house. 

“Hershel!! We need to go now!!” I yelled while running down the porch. A walker came out of nowhere from the left but before it got to me a shot was fired and it fell down. Carl was standing there with fear in his eyes. The next moment Rick and Hershel where there too and we ran towards the red SUV. I placed the crate and my bag inside the back of the SUV and pulled out my knife taking down one more walker before I got in. 

Rick drove the car of the property and I felt a huge relieve coming over my body. It didn’t last long though, a wave of concern hit me next. I looked to the side and saw Hershel staring out the back window, looking at his home being overrun by the undead. I looked in front of me towards Rick and his son, I was grateful that I did make it and I wasn’t alone. I noticed I was still a bit out of breath, while trying to regain control over my body I felt I was trembling like crazy. 

It wasn’t that crazy though, thinking about my sleepless night and the fact I didn’t ate a thing today. I leaned my head back, thanking adrenaline for pushing my body to survive. I felt my eyelids getting heavier by the second and I allowed them to close. Immediately the same thoughts I had last night and this morning came back, but now there were more. I wasn’t only seeing Dale, he was accompanied by the hundreds of walkers that drove us of the farm. I clenched my hand around my knife, not wanting to see all the horrors. Before I realized I dozed off, my exhausted body won the battle against my mind.

My eyes slowly opened noticing we were at the highway and the car was slowly coming to a stop. We stepped out of the car and my sight immediately went towards an abandoned car with supplies on the hood. I looked at the message written on the window, this is the spot they lost Sophia. It felt like ages ago that I found her alone in the woods and seeing this made it all come back again. I leaned against the SUV listening to Carl pleading to his dad about his mother. Carl stormed off, I looked up following the little kid with my eyes. I overheard the discussion between Rick and Hershel and I had to admit Hershel was right. Rick needed to get Carl to safety, I saw that Rick walked away from Hershel and I stopped him for a moment. 

“Rick…. Hershel is right, I’ll stay here with him. We can look out for each other, but you need to get Carl away from here. Keep your son safe” Rick just shook his head.  
“We’re not splitting up” he said in a stern voice and walked towards his son. I sighed leaning back against the SUV as I was still feeling a bit shaky. Hershel walked towards me and gave me a pack of crackers that were on the hood of the car.  
“You need to start taking care of yourself girl. You can’t help anyone if you’re not well yourself” I nodded and accepted the food.  
“Thanks” was al I muttered before devouring the crackers in no time. 

Time passed by as the four of us were waiting for the others to arrive, but my hope was slowly fading. We avoided a couple of walkers, but it wouldn’t be long before more could come this way. We stood behind the SUV as we avoided yet another walker.  
“I don’t know how much longer we could stay here.” Hershel whispered.  
“I’m not leaving without mom” Carl said, I felt for the boy, it must be hard at his age not knowing if his mother would be okay.  
“So we’re just gonna walk away?” Rick whispered to Hershel.  
“Not knowing if my wife and your girls are still out there? How do we live with that?” while I let the men decide on what we’re going to do I looked around keeping my eye out for any more walkers. 

“You only got one concern now. Just one! Keeping him alive” I heard Hershel say behind me still keeping his voice down.  
“Nature may be throwing us a curve ball, but that law is still true. Just go… Me and Kayleigh will wait here for just a few more moments” I looked over my shoulder and saw Rick looking at me and I just nodded. Giving him the signal that I agreed with Hershel. He knelt down in front of his son and apologized for the fact that they had to leave because it wasn’t safe here anymore. 

That’s when we all heard the sound of an engine, even better, multiple engines. One stood out the most to me, the sound of a chopper… We all watched with smiles on our face as the motorcycle and two cars parked a couple feet away from us. We ran towards the vehicles and I was most relieved to see Daryl. People started coming out of the cars and ran towards each other embracing their loved ones. It was a beautiful moment as I looked seeing everyone safe and sound, but realized that there were people missing. Four the be exact.

We all gathered in the middle of the road.  
“Were did you find everyone?” Rick asked while letting go of his wife and looked around.  
“He’s got his taillights zigzagging all over the road. I figured it had to be Asian driving like that” Daryl commented as he stood next to his bike.  
“Good one” Glenn snickered.  
“Where’s the rest of us?” Daryl asked Rick. 

“We’re the only ones that made it so far.” Rick answered. That’s when we learned about the faith of the other… Shane…Patricia.. Jimmy.. The only one that wasn’t certain was Andrea’s faith. Daryl offered to go back and find her, but Rick stopped him. Saying that she was either death or far away from the farm by now. 

Next thing I knew we were planning on where to go next, T-Dogg saying we needed to go east followed by Daryl telling us to stay away from the main roads to avoid the most walkers.  
“What about Fort Benning?” I questioned to no one in particular. My dad was there and since the farm was gone I wanted to go look for him. Rick just shook his head and looked towards the ground.  
“That’s not an option” he softly said, I felt panic taking over my body once again. I took a step closer towards Rick  
“But why? My Dad..” I couldn’t even finish my sentence because I was starting to stutter. 

“I’m sorry Kayleigh, I didn’t know your dad was there. I would have told you sooner. Before we came back with Randall we heard from a couple of guys from his group that Fort Benning was overrun.” He said with his calm voice, I felt everything slip away from me.  
“But….” Not wanting to believe it was true.  
“I’m sorry” 

People were all walking towards the cars again, ready to leave. I walked up towards Daryl.  
“Can I ride with you?” I asked while biting my lip, hoping he wouldn’t say no.  
“I just need some air around me right now” He looked over towards Carol that was coming his way, they nodded at each other and Carol walked back towards the red SUV and joined Rick, Lori, Carl an T-Dogg. 

“Well get on then” he said in his usual grumpy tone and I climbed on the back of his motorcycle. Hershel, Maggie, Glenn and Beth got in to the green car. We drove off leaving the blue pickup behind after we took the last bit of fuel that was inside it. I had wrapped my arms around Daryl waist as we drove in front of the cars. I enjoyed the wind running through my already messed up hair, which I thought was a miracle it was still in a braid, messy but still. 

My mind lingered on my dad, knowing now that Fort Benning was gone I wondered if he was too. I guess I will never know for sure, since it was too big of a risk to go there and find out. I guess I just had to leave it behind me for now and focus on surviving. To keep the hope up that maybe someday luck will be on my side and I’ll see him again. Being out here in the open helped a bit with clearing my mind and most of this was the first time since last night that I truly felt safe. Even though I wasn’t in a car, I felt like I would be safe with the man I was holding right now. Without even realizing it fully myself I had let my head rest on Daryl’s back. It wasn’t until there was a honk behind us and I lifted my head of his back. 

Daryl turned off the bike and I stepped off, allowing my legs to stretch a bit. I looked back and see everyone get out of their cars. Rick walking straight towards us.  
“You out?” Daryl asked  
“I’ve been running on fumes” Rick said as he reached Daryl and me.  
“We can’t stay here” Maggie mentioned.  
“We can’t all fit in one car” Glenn added. 

Then the discussion started about what to do next, tension was once again high in the group. Rick was telling us we needed to stay together and we would do a fuel and supply run in the morning. Almost everyone disagreeing with him immediately, not wanting to stay out in the open like this for the night.  
“When all hell broke loose on the farm…” I softly said stepping up interrupting the discussion for a moment and everyone looked at me. 

“I managed to gather some supplies and blankets, it’s in the back of the SUV we escaped in last night” I said seeing people around me getting a bit more relaxed, but still not trusting anything that could happen around us. Rick just nodded giving me the sign to go get them after he pointed at some ruins behind us in the forest telling us to make camp there. 

I walked up towards the red car and opened the trunk. First I grabbed my own bag slinging it over my head again and then I grabbed the crate. I placed it on the ground for a moment so I could close the trunk again. With the crate in my hands I walked back towards the group who were talking about the fact Randall turned into a walker without being bit. Daryl confirmed my theory that Shane killed Randall, Lori asked about what happened to Shane, but Rick didn’t answer to that question.  
“We’re all infected.” He said out of nowhere. Everyone turned their full attention towards Rick, waiting for him to explain.  
“What?” Daryl asked. 

“At the CDC Jenner told me. Whatever it is… We all carry it.” While some people started questioning why Rick never told anyone, my mind kept thinking about what he said. So no matter how we die… we all become monsters. I snapped out of it and looked around. Rick had walked a couple feet away from us and was talking to Lori who was standing behind us. The rest of the group just stood here, not really knowing what to do now. 

I walked towards the railing that was between us and the campsite for the night and climbed over it while not letting go of the supplies. I looked around and placed the crate in the middle of our sleeping place for the night. Soon more people followed, I volunteered to help gather some firewood with Daryl and Maggie while the rest were trying to settle in for the night. 

It was dark and we all sat around the fire, I had grabbed only four blankets. There were 3 bigger ones, Carl and Lori shared one. Just like Hershel and Beth and Glenn and Maggie. Carol had the smaller one, even though she wanted to share it with me I declined since I had my jacket that was stuffed in my bag. T-Dogg had first watch and was standing on a wall. 

Everyone was silent, I sat next to Daryl who was busy keeping the fire burning, on the other side of him was Carol. We all ate a bit, wanting to ration as much as we could. Sadly because of the size of the group and me only bringing one crate we already lost a quarter of the supplies. At this rate, we’ll be out of food in 2 days tops. Maybe Daryl and I could go hunting somewhere during the day while we were going on a gas and supply run. 

I just looked at the flames while taking in every sound I heard around me and let’s just say I got pretty annoyed by Carol at this moment. She was complaining about we were not safe with Rick as our leader and it sounded like she tried to convince Daryl to take the lead, but he declined saying Rick was a man of honor. On the other side of the campfire I heard Maggie talking about taking their changes, but immediately got shot down by her father saying not to be foolish. 

A rustle disturbed the silence there was for a couple of seconds. Everyone was back on their feet and Rick showed his face too. A slight panic started once again, since nobody knew what it was that made the sound.  
“The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark” Rick told in a stern voice after Carol pleaded to leave and the other tried to determine where the sound came from. 

“We don’t have the vehicles. Nobody’s traveling on foot” he ordered. I sat back down, agreeing with Rick, I looked to the side and saw that Lori and Carl where the only ones that stayed on the ground. Maggie then urges Rick that we needed to leave now.  
“No one is going anywhere!” I looked up seeing Rick was starting to lose his patience.  
“Do something” Carol pleaded and all I could thing about was how hypocritical she was right now.. just moments ago she wanted Rick gone and now she was pleading him to do something. 

“I am doing something!” Rick said looking at Carol.  
“I’m keeping this group together. ALIVE! I’ve been doing that all along, no matter what!” He turned his attention to the whole group now.  
“I didn’t ask for this! I killed my best friend for you people for Christ’s sake!!” That last thing he said shocked me a bit. Rick killed Shane?  
“You saw what he was like. How he pushed me. How he compromised us. How he threatened us.” Again I couldn’t help but agree with Rick once again, even though what he did was wrong. 

“He staged the whole Randall thing and lead me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice!! He was my friend, but he came after me.” Carl started crying next to me as Lori was hugging him in an attempt to comfort her son.  
“My hands are clean!” the group was looking at Rick, but sometimes shared looks with each other for a moment.  
“Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there’s a place for us, but maybe it’s just another pipedream. Maybe I’m fooling myself again. Why don’t you go and find out yourself?! Send me a postcard!” nobody said a word or moved a muscle. 

“Go on! There’s the door. You can do better? Let’s see how far you get.” And again still nobody said a word they just exchanged looks with each other.  
“No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight… You stay. This isn’t a democracy anymore.” With those words said, he looked everyone one by one in the eye before walking away. 

The rest of the group slowly sat back down again around the fire and crawled under their blankets. I stared at the fire again, this time closing myself off from the things around me. I let myself get hypnotized by the colors of the flames while I let the words that had just been said sink in. Deciding it was time for me to step up, stop thinking about what the rest thought about me and just doing what Rick decides while keeping the promise I made to Dale in the back of my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys! I hoped you liked this chapter. This was the last chapter that takes place during season 2. The next few chapters will take place in between season 2 and season 3.


	12. Tears and Peaches

Six months has passed since we had to abandon the farm and there were a lot of changes over those months. The first couple of weeks, most of the group was still unsure about Rick’s leadership but now everyone just accepted that what Rick says happens. It didn’t take long before Daryl officially had replaced Shane’s place as Rick’s right hand man. I was on the other side of Rick, making sure his decisions didn’t compromise the promise I made to Dale’s grave. 

Also my hunting and tracking skills much improved along the road and I was really proud at myself for that. Every time Daryl and Rick were figuring out which way to go next I tried to make sure that the weakest in our group were doing okay under the bad circumstances. 

We had been moving around a lot, not being able to stay for long. The longest we’d stayed in one place was 5 days, it was getting really frustrating that we still hadn’t found a place to settle down and call our home. I think it was especially getting hard for Lori, she was really showing by now and you could see she was struggling with running from place to place. 

Today was no different, last night we were about to be surrounded by walkers. Thank god we escaped, but now we were once again searching for our next place to stay. But I was very happy that it was getting warmer again, the winter months were hell! Almost no food or shelter that was a little bit warmer than it was outside. Another thing I was grateful for was the fact that we haven’t lost anyone this whole time. 

I was on the back of Daryl’s motorcycle and the two cars were driving behind us. My bag was in one of the cars as usual, but I kept my knives, kunai and one nun chuck on my body. On the road we came across some cool stuff, one of those things was a leg holster I think it originally was meant for a gun, but my nun chuck fit perfectly. We also found some silencers for the guns of the guys, which made me a bit less nervous about them shooting. 

I was putting a lot of weight on my lower body with all these weapons, but I got used to the weight. On my back was Daryl’s make shift quiver for the arrows he made, the reason I was wearing it was because I could grab a hold on him better in case we needed to make some maneuvers to avoid walkers. 

In the past half year him and I became a real good team in either hunting or killing walkers. Plus he finally started to really talk to me, not about his past of course, but we had some great conversations and even made jokes. I was glad I had at least one good friend in this shit world, I mean I got closer to the rest of the group. It was just a different vibe with them. 

After driving for a couple more hours we stopped to stretch our legs, eat something and think about which way we were going next. Maggie was standing on one of the cars keeping watch and so was T-Dogg who was standing on the edge of the woods that were next to the road. The rest of us were sitting on the ground or standing, Lori was sitting in the car with the door open and her legs outside. 

“Hey Kayleigh, do you still got those peaches in your bag?” Carol softly asked me.  
“I need something else instead of lima beans” I pulled my bag into my lap.  
“Let me check” I said while looking into the bag, it was a bit of a mess with the dirty clothes thrown in it. My fingers touched a hard material but it didn’t feel like a can, I shoved the clothes that were on top of it to the side and looked at the picture frame my fingers touched. It was the picture of me, my grandma and my dad…

I just stared at it, realizing I haven’t been thinking about him lately.  
“Kayleigh?” I shook my head and look up to see Carol eagerly hoping that I found the can of peaches.  
“Uhm.. I’m sorry, I guess we already ate that one” I said lying. She sighed softly.  
“It’s okay, lima beans it is” she said and she got up to get herself a can. 

I looked back at the picture at the bottom of my bag, I felt myself slowly falling apart on the inside. I needed to get away from the group, like right now. Even though one of Rick’s rules was to never go alone and not telling the others, I needed to break that rule now. I looked around and saw that Maggie and T-Dogg weren’t looking at me right now, neither was the rest of the group. I softly pushed the bag of my lap and slowly stood up. Within seconds I had managed to get into the woods without anyone noticing. 

I was running with one of my knives in my hand just in case. It was getting harder to see as more tears started to form in my eyes, I felt so guilty. I had been strong the last couple of months, the last tears I cried were on the last day on the farm. I had decided to leave everything behind that hurt me and to stop feeling weak, which crying made me feel. 

As soon as I knew I was far enough away from the group, I stopped as my breath was now out of control. With my free hand I found support against a tree, I pressed my other hand with the knife still clutched in it against my chest. While my breathing was still uncontrollably I leaned my back against the tree and let my body slide down to the ground. 

I covered my mouth with my free hand in an attempt to keep myself quiet as tears and sobs kept coming. How could I just so simply forget about my father, the one that always wanted to do everything for my happiness. How could I be so selfish!? I was getting angry at myself, how could I just push him out of my mind?

I was soon on my feet when I heard groans on my left side. I raised my knife and with still blurry eyes I stood across from a walker with his arms outstretched towards me. I kicked him back a couple of times and let out a short scream of frustration, before pushing it towards a tree and stabbing it in the head a couple of times. 

Fearing I may have attract more walker with that noise I just created I ran again, but not back to the group yet. I first needed to know I wasn’t leading any walkers back to the group. I stopped and crouched down next to a tree and I just listened. I heard leaves shuffling and it was coming my way. 

When the sounds was just inches away from me I stood back up with my knife ready to attack. I froze in my place when the point of an arrow was right at my face. At the other end of the crossbow was Daryl of course.  
“You bloody idiot!” he whispered at me, with a really pissed off tone. 

“What the hell were you thinking?!” he said as he lowered his crossbow, I looked towards the ground and the few loose strands of my hair covered my face.  
“I just needed some space” I softly answered. I looked to the side not wanting to look at him right now. That’s when I saw something, Is that what I think it is? Without even thinking about the pissed off redneck in front of me, I started walking. 

“Where the hell do you think you’re going” I heard behind me, but I just ignored it, hoping I saw it correctly. I heard Daryl’s footsteps behind me and I just hoped that he didn’t catch me before I reached my goal. I saw it clearly now and that’s when I felt his fingers wrapping around my wrist. I was being pulled back, I turned around and placed my hand on his arm. He turned around looking ready to yell at me, but I just pointed towards what I saw. He followed my arm. 

“A chimney mostly means a house” I simply said. He let go of my wrist and nudged me to keep on walking. He lifted his crossbow back up and I started to walk towards to chimney with my knife high ready to attack whatever was in my way. We reached the cabin, it was pretty big not as big as the farmhouse of course, but bigger than I expected. The best part in my eyes was the fence that surrounded the cabin, it wasn’t high or anything but it would be able to slow down the walkers. 

I looked over my shoulder back at Daryl who nodded an okay to go on and explore the cabin. After we climbed over the wooden fence we walked up the 3 steps that was leading us to the porch and we first walked all over the porch. I looked inside and he just scanned the area around the cabin, I thought ourselves as lucky to have found this place and that the only walker activity was a good distance away when I was alone. I was standing at the last window which had its curtains shut, which made me a bit curious. 

“As far as I can see everything’s clear except one room, the curtains were closed” I whispered to Daryl and he simply nodded back.  
“The area is clear too” he softly said and we went to the front door. We couldn’t take any risks, if we were bringing the group here we needed to make sure it was safe. 

I had my hand resting on the door knob and my other hand was raised with my knife ready to attack, I looked over at Daryl who was standing right beside me his crossbow ready to fire and he nodded again signaling me to open. I turned the knob and threw the door open, Daryl went in first and I closed the door behind me with a bang using my foot. 

We waited for a couple moments, we heard nothing so we walked further. We went right first and we entered what looked like a living room. There were three couches set up around a fire place and there were all kinds of comfortable chairs spread around, a bookcase filled with books The whole place looked untouched by the horror that occurred outside. It reminded me a bit of the farmhouse when I first saw it and the feeling that came with it, it felt peaceful in here. We turned around, ready to check the other rooms. 

The cabin only had one floor, we had cleared 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, we were now in the kitchen checking the cabinets for food and there was quite a few cans left.  
“I don’t get it, who would leave all this food behind?” I whispered still being careful. Daryl just shrugged.  
“One room left” he said nudging towards the door across the kitchen. 

We walked towards it and this time he had his hands on the doorknob, I nodded and he pushed the door open. I stepped inside with my knife raised ready to kill, but what I saw and smelled made my stomach turn a bit. I dropped my knife and turned around covering my mouth with my hand, how was it possible we didn’t smelled this horrible scent sooner. Daryl stood next to me looking at the sight, it was an old man with a shotgun between his legs and arms. 

“Guess he found another way to leave” Daryl commented.  
“Please stop, it’s disgusting” I said trying hard not to vomit.  
“Look you can even see bits of his brain stuck on the curtains” he said and I gagged while resting my hands on my legs as I was leaning forward. I was thanking myself for not eating today since nothing was coming out. I heard him chuckle softly and I punched him in the arm. 

“You’re horrible” I said.  
“We need to drag him outside, than we can go get the rest of the group” I stood up straight again, looking over my shoulder at the corpse, feeling my stomach turn once again.  
“Really? This makes your stomach turn? Weren’t you the one who was trying to stop Dale’s ripped open abdomen from bleeding?” he said with a huge grin on his face.  
“That was different, I was trying to save him. Adrenaline kicked in” He chuckled again and I slapped his arm again. 

“Would you stop laughing please, you’re not making it any easier for me” We walked towards the chair the man was sitting in, I tried to avoid looking at his face and just grabbed the shotgun out of his cold hands. We each stood next to the man and grabbed one arm each.  
“1..2..3” Daryl counted as we both pulled the man out of his chair. The head of the old man, or at least what was left of it, fell back and it made a sickening sound. I let go of the arm and turned around leaning forwards again. 

“You’re gonna have the ask the others, I’m sorry I can’t do it” I walked towards my knife and picked it off the ground.  
“You’re such a girl” he joked as he walked passed me.  
“Gee, thanks for noticing” I said back in a sarcastic tone before leaving the room with him and closing the door behind me. 

Once outside it was getting dark, damn we must have been in there longer than I thought. We sprinted back towards the highway following a path that led from the cabin through the woods. The path was big enough for cars so that was another good thing. I didn’t took us long to get to the highway and as soon as out feet touched the concrete we looked around. On our left side in the distance we saw Maggie who was still standing on one of the cars. We started sprinting towards the group and I immediately saw Rick stormed our way. A lump formed in my throat as I saw the expression on his face. 

“Were the hell have you been?!” he said in an angry tone not raising his volume too much. Before I could explain myself Daryl spoke.  
“She saw a rabbit and didn’t want to lose it so she went after it” I looked up at Daryl, did he just lie to Rick for me? He didn’t even know why I ran away and he was covering for me?  
“I expected better from you Kayleigh” he said in a stern voice and I just nodded, feeling like a kid that got busting doing something bad in school. 

“So where is the rabbit?” he ask, his tone a bit calmer now.  
“I lost it” I said lowering my head  
“But she did found a cabin up there, we already checked it out, it’s clear and there is a small fence around it” Daryl finished. I looked up at Rick as Daryl talked and he nodded approvingly. 

“Good job, but don’t pull a stunt like that again” he said towards me and once again I just nodded. We all gathered our stuff and as the others got in the car, I got on the back of Daryl’s motorcycle.  
“Thanks” I whispered and he just nodded. 

Once we reached the cabin, people immediately started to move our stuff inside. Daryl went in to the study with Rick to get the body out. In the meantime, Glenn and I were rearranging the living room, moving the couches so there was more space to sleep. 

Rick, Lori and Carl took the master bedroom of course, even though they didn’t agree immediately. Lori deserved and needed a good place to sleep, and no one wanted to break up their little family. In the other bedroom were 2 small beds, one was for Hershel no doubt about that, and the other was Beth’s for the time being. 

Glenn and Maggie said that they would share the biggest couch. Carol and T-Dogg took the other ones after Daryl and I both volunteered to sleep on the ground. There was a soft rug on the ground in front of the fireplace and we both placed our sleeping bags on it. 

Daryl had found a set of keys on the old man, assuming one of them is for the small shed that was outside. Rick decided to check that out in the morning since it was getting late and we all could use a good rest. Everyone went to bed, or their makeshift beds in some cases, I laid on my back staring at the ceiling. 

The space next to me was empty since Daryl took the last shift, T-Dogg just came back in the room and went straight towards his couch. Everyone was sound asleep, but I just couldn’t for some reason. It wasn’t the ground, this was actually one of the most comfortable sleeping places I’ve had in months. Still I couldn’t sleep, I sighed and tried another sleeping pose again. 

After a while of tossing and turning I sat up. Maybe I could take over Daryl’s shift, it wouldn’t be fair for me to just lay here wide awake, when Daryl could rest. I got up and put my combat boots and jacket on. I turned back to my bag and grabbed something out of it before walking past the kitchen and then straight outside. Daryl was sitting outside on a wooden bench that was on the porch. He looked towards me and I took a few steps closer. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked and I just nodded.  
“I thought you could maybe use some rest, I can take over the shift.” He shook his head.  
“Nah, I’m fine” he said before looking ahead again.  
“Do you want some company then?” He looked back at me. 

“I got peaches” I said with a small smile as I showed him the can and the two forks I got out of the kitchen. He nodded and I sat next to him.  
“I thought we only had lima beans and all those other variety of beans in these cabinets.” He said looking at me while I pried the can open with my knife. I chuckled  
“Yeah, I had this one left.” I looked up at him.  
“Just promise me one thing” he looked at me a bit confused. 

“Don’t tell Carol, she asked for it this afternoon and I kinda got distracted and lied that we ate it already” I said with a bit of guilt lining my words. He chuckled and nodded before taking one of the forks. We enjoyed the peaches in silence while we looked around, scanning the area for danger. I enjoyed the silence between us, it didn’t feel uncomfortable and I let my body relax for the moment.  
“So.. what’s the real reason you ran off?” 

My body tensed at his question and I dropped my fork in the empty can. I pulled my legs up and let out a small sigh. I knew I owed him a real answer, but I knew my reason was stupid.  
“Well.. when Carol asked me about the peaches I found something else in my bag..” I started to fumble with the hem of my jacket. 

“And I found the picture I had carried with me since this whole mess started. The picture was taking on my 12th birthday, and it was the first birthday my dad was home since my mom left, it has us and my grandma in it.” Even though it was difficult for me to talk about my past, I already told him about the fact that my mom left a couple months ago.  
“I realized that I haven’t even thought about my dad while we were on the road and guilt took over I guess. I just needed some space, not wanting the group to see me as weak” I closed my eyes hoping I could hold back the tears forming in my eyes. 

“You’re not weak” I looked up a bit surprised.  
“Everyone has it tough sometimes and last time I checked you supported everyone in this group when they had it rough” that made me smile. Before I could think about my actions, I had planted a kiss on his cheek. 

I felt my body stiffen and I looked at the shocked expression on his face. I slowly backed away.  
“What was that for?” he said in his thick redneck accent.  
“Just to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me” I said as I felt my cheeks heating up and I just looked away. 

We stayed silent for the rest of the night, but this time it felt awkward. I felt like an idiot, I just had to ruin everything. I was glad when the first rays of the sun came and moment later Rick came outside.  
“Let’s check out that shed” he said, I nodded and I smuggled the empty can inside and hid it in the kitchen. 

Next stop was the living room, people started to wake up.  
“Good morning” I said to the sleepy looking people in the room. I grabbed my knife and walked back outside and joined Rick and Daryl walking towards the shed that was next to the house. 

After trying a couple of keys on the door Rick found the right one. We looked at each other for a moment, before readying us to attack in case there was a walker in the shed. Rick opened the door and we all looked in shock at what we saw in the shed.  
“Jackpot” was all I could manage to say.


	13. Mistakes

Two days has passed since Daryl, Rick and I had opened the shed and hit the armory jackpot. This old man apparently was a hunter. His shed was filled with all kinds of rifles and shotguns and a lot of ammo to go with it. While the rest of the group was happy with the extra guns and ammo, my happiness was the recurve bow that was hanging in the shed. I knew pretty fast who I was going to ask to teach me. 

So here we were again, in the forest for lesson number 3. I had taken my hoodie off since it was getting warmer and tied it around my waist. I still needed to get used to the armguard and shooting glove though. It felt a bit weird, but I just had to suck it up. I let go of the string and sighed, missed the target again! At least this time I hit the tree, it was just above the roots, but always better than the arrow going into the ground. 

“You suck” I looked back furious at Daryl who was leaning against a tree.  
“You think?” I said sarcastically and he just chuckled.  
“Maybe you can actually show me how it’s done instead of criticizing me from afar.” I spat angrily while I grabbed another arrow from the quiver on my back. 

“First of all, like I said before you’re stance is wrong” he said. I sighed and shifted in place.  
“Better?” I still sounded irritated. I felt a hand on my shoulder and another around my waist, my body stiffened a bit while Daryl was adjusting my posture.  
“Now your arm like this” he said while the hand on my shoulder moved towards my elbow, never leaving my skin. 

I felt my heartbeat getting faster while his body was softly pressed against mine. I felt his warm breath behind my ear.  
“Now lock your eyes with your target and focus” he said in a hushed tone, which send chills up and down my spine. It was hard focusing on the target when my body was acting like it was a teenager again. 

“Hold your breath, until you let go of the string” another chill went down my entire body this time. I took a deep breath, locked my sight and let go. The corners of my mouth curled up as I hit bulls eye. I still felt Daryl’s arm around my waist and the other on my elbow. I turned my head slightly and lowered my elbow. 

I looked at his face, but my eyes immediately went down to his lips. It was just an inch away, I felt my body heating up. I’ve been close to him before, on the back of his bike or during a hunt or something, but never like this. I tried my best to fight the urges to kiss him right now, but I lost the fight. 

I closed the gap between our lips, but pulled back as soon as I felt his body stiffen behind me. I felt like an idiot and I slowly turned my head away. The next thing I knew his arm left my waist and I felt his hand on my cheek turning my head back. 

Before I could say or do anything his lips were on mine. Shocked by his sudden move, I felt him pull back. I dropped my bow and turned my body placing my hands on his neck deepening the kiss. His hand slid down my cheek to my neck and his other was on my lower back pulling our bodies firmly against each other. 

My mind went numb and I felt my knees were giving in. Sadly this moment ended too soon when we heard a rustle in the bushes a few feet next to us. We broke apart, Daryl already having his crossbow ready. I looked to the side and saw 7 walkers coming towards us. 

“Run” Daryl said. I bent down getting my bow and started running, with him next to me. I stopped for a brief moment pulling the two arrows out of the tree, not wanting to waste it. We needed to get a head start so we could face the walkers, plus we were pretty close to the cabin and we needed to lure them as far away. 

We reached a small clearing in the woods and we both turned around. During the run I had put the arrows back in the quiver on my back and pulled the bow over my head letting it rest on my back too. I grabbed one hunting knife and a kunai ready to attack with the weapons I was familiar with. 

Three walkers had reached the clearing first and as Daryl shot one I threw my kunai in the head of the second. Daryl focused on the fourth one coming out of the trees and I lured the third away from Daryl before stabbing it in the head. 

I turned around and saw that Daryl had taken out another walker. Good, 2 left to go, but sadly more walkers were coming and we had to run again to avoid being surrounded by the creatures. I was running behind him, but soon felt my body going down. Something had grabbed my ankle and I fell face down on the ground, I heard the gnawing sounds and felt the hands around my legs. 

The hands went limp as I heard an arrow being fired, seconds later I was pulled back on my feet and we started to run again. It took us a while but we managed to kill all the walkers, 15 in total. We were walking back following the corpses retrieving his arrows and my kunai. My body felt a bit sore, and my head throbbing from the fall. It was so sudden that I didn’t even had a chance to catch myself. 

I felt like a huge idiot, I could have killed Daryl with that falling action. The walk back towards the cabin was silent, we didn’t even look at each other. I bet he thought I was a big idiot too and probably regretted that he kissed me. 

My thoughts were running through my head, that I didn’t even noticed we were back already until I saw Daryl climbing over the fence. I quickly followed and soon Lori was in front of us.  
“Oh my god! What happened to you two?” she said with worried. 

“Walkers” Daryl said as he walked passed Lori and straight inside. I looked after him, but looked back at Lori when she spoke again.  
“Are you okay?” she said as she was brushing the hair out of my face.  
“Fine, I just fell” I said in a cranky tone. 

“Your head is bleeding sweetie, let’s have Hershel take a look at that” she said while wrapping her arms around my shoulder and guiding me inside. I hated all this overprotective shit, I was fine, just a bit tired. Hershel was wiping the blood on my forehead. 

“It doesn’t need stitches” he said with a smile. I sat next to him on the couch, I had taken of all the weapons except for one knife. They were all laying on my sleeping bag, I kept staring at the bow thinking back at the moment Daryl and I had before we had to run and fight for our lives again. Hershel covered the wound with a bandage.  
“Go freshen up and then come back, you might have a concussion and someone needs to keep an eye on you” I simply nodded as I got up from the couch slowly and walked towards the bathroom. 

I looked at the door from a distance, I hadn’t been in there since we arrived, not wanting to see myself in the mirror scared for what I might see.  
I sighed and as I was about to open the bathroom, the door slung open and Daryl bumped in to me. I wanted to say something, but he just walked away and now I knew I was right. I was an idiot in his eyes and he didn’t even wanted to talk to me. 

As soon as I entered the bathroom I locked the door behind me and leaned my back against it. How could I’ve been so stupid!? Of course he didn’t like me like that! I was just some stupid girl in his eyes. A few tears slipped from my eyes, as I tried the keep as silent as possible. 

I walked over to the sink and filled it with water from the jerry can that was on the ground. I splashed some water in my face and placed my hand to the sides of the sink leaning down on it. I slowly raised my head, dreading what I was going to see in my reflection. 

I slowly opened my eyes and examined my face. There was a light bruise on the side of my face and my bottom lip was cracked, but that didn’t scare me though. I saw the dark circles that were under my eyes and I saw how my normally round face was looking like a corpse. 

I took a few steps back so I could see my upper body, I slowly pulled up my shirt as I saw how skinny I was getting. I knew I must have lost weight seeing there wasn’t much food around, but I didn’t think it was this bad. I traced my, clearly showing, ribs softly with my fingers. 

I was looking pale and I felt like I was looking at my dead body. I pulled my shirt back down and took the hoodie from my waist. Even though I wasn’t cold, I felt like hiding my body. I wiped my face dry with my sleeves and left the bathroom. 

I softly closed the door behind me and pulled the hood over my head. I walked outside, I know I should have gone back to the living room, but I needed some air. I sat down on the steps feeling the sun burning on my body. I heard the door open behind me and someone sat beside me. 

“My dad is waiting for you, you know” I heard Maggie say.  
“I’m fine” I simply replied.  
“Is your head still hurting?” she asked. 

“I’ll take an aspirin and I’ll be fine” still not looking towards her. I heard her sigh  
“It’s okay to need help sometimes Kayleigh” I just rolled my eyes and got up.  
“For the last time I’m fine!” I snapped at her before walking back inside towards the living room. 

I walked towards the living room and grabbed the bottle of painkillers out of my bag taking one. After swallowing the pill, I started to fasten all the weapons back on my body. Except the bow, I just placed that and the accessories and quiver on top of my bag. I got up and let myself fall down in one of the chairs in the corner.  
“There you are” I heard Glenn’s optimistic voice. 

“Let me guess, Maggie sent you to check up on me” I grunted as I pulled my legs up toward my body.  
“Actually Hershel asked me to keep you company while he is checking on Lori” he said and he walked towards the couch he shared with Maggie. He started to unpack some things from his bag. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, it’s not like this is a permanent place” I said.  
“Maggie was right, you’re in a bad mood” he said with a grin plastered on his face.  
“I’m just saying the facts” I said as I looked away from the happy Asian guy. I heard something heavy being moved and I looked back in front of me and saw that Glenn had pushed the other big chair right in front of mine. 

“Okay, what happened out there?” he said in a serious tone.  
“You know what happened, walkers surrounded us and we had to run and fight to keep them away from this place” I said looking down at my lap.  
“What happened between you and Daryl” I immediately looked back up in surprise by his question.  
“Nothing!” I said in a appalled tone. A smirk formed on his face.  
“Really?” and he wiggled his eyebrows. 

“One, you look ridiculous doing that. Two, nothing happened between us. I was stupid enough to fall down and risk his life” I said irritated and looked away again. I felt his hand on my knee,  
“I know you didn’t do that on purpose and I know he doesn’t think like that. It can happen” I rolled my eyes. 

“Yeah to weak stupid girls in horror movies” I looked at him again and he was about to say something.  
“Please Glenn, just drop it. I’m tired and I don’t want to talk about it anymore” I said looking down at my hands as I fumbled with the hem of my hoodie.  
“Well, since you can’t sleep yet, tell me about your tattoos then. I saw some bits of them on your sides and your shoulder” I sighed and looked at Glenn.  
“Alright” I said while I rolled my eyes. 

“On my left side, I have a phoenix. As a reminder that I should always keep getting back up, when getting knocked down. On my right side I have a cherry blossom branch, it is… or was my dad’s favorite flowers” I looked down again. 

“On my right shoulder is an dandelion emerging in birds with the text ‘never let go of hope’” my voice cracked a bit.  
“My grandma always told me that, before I went to sleep” I smiled softly. 

“She sounds like an amazing woman” even though tears were burning once more in my eyes I smiled.  
“She was” I looked up smiling. We ended up talking about my grandmother and my father for a while and Glenn told stories about his family. We laughed and shared some tears. It felt good to open up to someone again. 

The only people I told about my family were Dale and Daryl. As Glenn and I kept talking about small things my mind got distracted from time to time. What happened between Daryl and me kept playing in my head, ending with the way he behaved when we got back. 

Glenn got us both some dinner, I forced myself to eat it even though I wasn’t really hungry. After dinner Hershel came to check up on me and gave me the green light to sleep. I was relieved and not long after I walked over towards my sleeping bag. 

Everyone tried to trade sleeping places since they all thought I needed a better place to sleep after the day I had. I declined kindly and I also apologized to Maggie for my behavior. I laid in my sleeping bag and I felt my eyes close quickly and I finally fell asleep. 

I had slept throughout the whole night, not waking once. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around me, it was still early and the rest of the group was still asleep. I looked to the side and saw Daryl was gone, he was probably on watch again. I got dressed and gathered all my weapons again, I even grabbed the bow and quiver deciding I needed to give it another shot. 

I walked in the hallway fastening the armguard and shooting glove. I stopped in front of the bathroom door and hesitated a bit. I went inside, standing in front of the mirror again. Looking at my reflection, the dark circles where a little less visible, but still I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. 

The bruise was a bit darker, I reached up and touched it softly. Yeah, think it will be sore for the next few days. I sighed and I grabbed a candle that was on a cabinet next to the bathtub and threw it at the mirror. I was sick of seeing myself like this! The mirror shattered and I ran outside. 

“Parker, what was that inside?” I pushed passed Daryl ignoring his question. I heard the door open behind me again, but I didn’t look back. I jumped over the fence and disappeared in the woods. I stopped at the same place Daryl and I were yesterday, I looked to the ground and saw our footprints and those from the walkers crossing each other. 

I looked up and grabbed the bow and an arrow. Aiming at the same target as yesterday, I was determined to control this weapon today. The more arrows I fired to closer they came to the target and I was satisfied with the improvements. I saw something move in the corner of my eye and after that I heard the leaves rustling.  
I turned to the side and released an arrow. 

“Thank god you still need some practice” Daryl said with a bit of shocked on his face trying to smirk.  
“Says who” I said nodding towards the tree. The arrow had landed just a few inches next to his head, but it had a squirrel impaled too.  
“Nice job” he said and stepped closer. Before Daryl could get to close, I walked towards the tree gathering my arrows and putting them back in my quiver.  
“About yesterday” I heard him say. 

“We don’t have to talk about it, nothing happened right. At least that’s what you want, isn’t it?” I said not even looking at him.  
I walked passed him, but was stopped when he grabbed my wrist. I looked up, but saw that he didn’t know what to say. 

“It’s okay, nothing happened… I guess” I said pulling away from his grip. I pulled the arrow out of the squirrel and hold the squirrel.  
“Let’s just go back” I said not turning around and walking back towards the cabin. I heard Daryl walking behind me, we reached to cabin quickly and I threw the squirrel at Daryl. 

“Maybe the others want a bit of meat for lunch. I’ll keep watch, I’m not that hungry anyway” I said and he just nodded walking inside. I sat down on the bench on the porch, letting everything that happened in just two days sink in. I had the most amazing moment yesterday, followed by a horrible feeling. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be…

 

It has been 7 days since Daryl and I kissed, 7 agonizing days. I just couldn’t stop thinking about it, especially at night. I’ve had developed a pretty bad habit, I was sneaking out early in the morning in the hope I would be able to clear my head. 

It wasn’t working though, the hunting sessions with Daryl weren’t exactly helpful. We didn’t talk, we just focused on getting food saying as little as possible. To make matters a bit worse, some people were worried about me since the whole breaking the mirror and running away again thing. 

They were all watching me closely, but luckily for me the prying eyes needed sleep too. I just stared at the ceiling, like I always did after just 3 hours of sleep. The bed next to me was once again empty, but this time Daryl wasn’t on watch. 

Glenn and Daryl left for a supply run, everyone expected them to be back right now. I was worried about the boys and I was also a bit pissed at Rick for not allowing me to go with them. He said it wasn’t necessary for me to go with them and he needed me here. Which I thought was just a bullshit excuse because he wanted to keep an eye on me. 

I turned on my stomach and looked around the room. Everyone was sound asleep of course, it was probably around 4 in the morning. T-Dogg’s bed was empty since he had watch duty tonight. I softly got out of my bed and sneaked out of the room with my weapons and my shoes in my hands. 

I stepped inside the study and fastened my knives on my body. I looked at the big chair in the corner, it was still covered in blood from the man that used to live here. I put on my shoes while not taking my eyes off of the chair. 

I walked over towards it and opened the window behind it. As I silently made my way out of the cabin and of the porch, I grabbed my bow and sneaked towards the fence, staying out of T-Dogg’s sight. 

I did felt a bit guilty about leaving the group like this every morning, but the guilt quickly went away a soon as I started running through the woods. The first steps went slowly making sure to be out of hearing range before I started running. 

I breathed in the fresh morning air and enjoyed the silence that the woods had this early. I was about the pick up my pace went I heard a branch snap behind me. Aiming my bow to the direction of the sound, I was shocked to see who was there. 

“Going somewhere?” a female voice asked.  
“What are you doing here Maggie?” I sighed as I lowered my bow.  
“Following you, wanting to ask you the same question” she said crossing her arms and looking at me demanding. I didn’t answer and just turned around and walked away from her. 

“What is going on with you Kayleigh?” I heard desperately behind me.  
“Nothing” I said hearing her follow me once again.  
“Then why are you risking your life by going out on your own in the middle of the night?” still not looking back at the brunette behind me I picked up my pace.

“Just need some air, I feel suffocated” I simply replied.  
“So it has nothing to do with Daryl?” that’s when I stopped and turned looking at her with an appalled look on my face.  
“What makes you think it has anything to do with him?” I asked annoyed. 

“The fact that ever since the day you and Daryl were surrounded in the woods, you’ve been acting different. And I’ve noticed you two haven’t been the same around each other” I rolled my eyes, trying my best to keep the lie up.  
“That’s ridiculous” I said wanting to turn around again. 

“Something happened between you that day, didn’t it? Before you had to run from the walkers” I looked at her, starting to get more annoyed by her noisy behavior.  
“Nothing happened” I simply said, while trying to keep up the though girl act.  
“Oh really?” she asked while stepping closer towards me. 

“I’m not blind Kayleigh, I saw the way you looked at each other and now you barely even talk.” I scoffed.  
“Too bad the world’s gone to hell, because you really could use some glasses” I said bitchy and turned around.  
“Come on Kayleigh! Stop denying it!” I started to tremble from anger and from almost reaching my breaking point. 

“Admit it!” she said in a stern voice once again. I turned around tears burning my eyes.  
”We kissed okay?!” I saw that Maggie was pleased I finally admitted something happened, but she was worried why I was so sad.  
“That’s a good thing right?” she asked hesitantly. 

“Yeah great, especially since he regretted doing it” I said sarcastically.  
“He told you that?” she asked shocked.  
“He didn’t have to, it was obvious to me” I said a bit defeated. 

“But worst of all, I don’t. I wanted it to happen, I even want it to happen again, but the feeling is not mutual” she took a step closer opening her arms to hug me, but I stopped her by raising my hand.  
“That’s why I’ve been running alone, I need to forget it. I need to forget him” I bit my lip softly before sighing. 

“Let’s just go back, before anyone notices we’re gone” I said softly. Maggie was walking besides me and I was hoping she would just drop the subject, but that wasn’t the case.  
“It’s going to be okay, he’ll come around and admit to what he really feels” 

The confidence in her voice somehow made me believe for a moment that that was going to happen, but then the look in his eyes that he had in the house after that day told me otherwise. Normally I couldn’t really tell what his eyes were hiding, just a glimpse if I was lucky. But lately his eyes where back to his cold stare I got to know him with back on the farm. 

“I don’t know Maggie” I said softly. I felt her warm hand grab my cold one and I looked to the side seeing her usual warm smile.  
“He’ll see what he is missing out on” and her smile formed into a grin and she winked. I just shook my head at her remark, but it felt good that someone was talking with me without the usual ‘Is she going to freak out’ look. 

We reached the cabin and we softly sneaked in, we heard sounds coming out of the living room and we both sneaked into the kitchen.  
“Where are Maggie and Kayleigh?” I hear a male voice say. I made sure my bow was on my back and we quickly grabbed some cans out of the cabinets to make it look like we were preparing breakfast. We heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen. 

It was Carol. “Rick, they’re in the kitchen” she said and soon Rick and the rest of the group except T-Dogg was in the kitchen too.  
“Good morning” Maggie said with a big smile.  
“How long have you guys been awake? Your beds are cold” Rick ask, I looked at Maggie and we both struggled not to burst in to laughter. 

“I guess for quite a bit then” I said and immediately pressed my lips back together trying to hold my laughter.  
“Yeah, we both couldn’t sleep and we didn’t want to wake the rest so we went in here. Thinking we could start breakfast.” Hershel looked at the cans in front of us, which were still intact and he raised an eyebrow at the both of us. 

“We kinda forgot what we came here to do” I said giggling like a little school girl. Maggie joined me, and I grabbed my knife getting ready to pry open the can.  
“Glad you two are in a good mood, I guess” Rick said and chuckled. The group soon left, leaving Maggie and me alone again. We looked at each other again and burst into laughter.  
“That was way too close” she said and agreed with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! These are the tattoo's, at least the represent how I see it in my head.
> 
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> 
> [](http://photobucket.com/)  
>    
> [](http://photobucket.com/)  
> [](http://photobucket.com/)


	14. Safety

After everyone had some breakfast, Beth and Maggie went on a berry search under supervision of T-Dogg. Even though Maggie disagreed on the fact T-Dogg joined them, convinced she was capable of protecting her sister and herself, Rick wouldn’t change his mind.

I was on watch duty, but as soon as T-dogg and the Greene girls left, Rick joined me on the porch. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t trust my judgment anymore and he was checking up on me or if he just wanted to keep me company in a friendly way.

“So, how are we feeling today?” he asked while he sat down. I turned my head, and overdramatically gave him a shocked look.   
“Officer Grimes! Are you concerned I’m not up for the job?” I said slightly sarcastic.

He chuckled at my reaction and shook his head at my response.   
“No I’m not doubting you. Just genuine interest” he said calmly as he smiled at me.   
“I’m feeling better” I said with a soft smile.

“Good” he said nodding and I turned my head back to watch around us. For the first time this week I felt comfortable besides the man, believing he still trusts me.   
“You know, Carl keeps asking me to ask you if you’re willing to teach him to use nun chucks”

I turned my head as a small smile formed on my face.   
“Really?” I asked a bit surprised.   
“Yeah, but he is afraid if he keeps asking you, that you feel bothered by him” he said chuckling at his sons shyness.

“Well, you can tell him that I will, but…” I stopped talking as a grin formed on my face   
“He needs to learn some other things first and I’m not going easy on him” Rick lips curled up in grin too.

“I’ll tell him that” We both burst into laughter, but immediately stood up weapons raised when we heard some rustling in the woods. We slowly relaxed when it was Maggie, Beth and T-Dogg. Maggie was running towards us.

“They’re back” she said with a big smile on her lips. As soon as she passed us, Rick and I turned our heads and saw the car driving up the path. Everyone from inside the house, Rick, T-Dogg and Beth gathered at the front of the cabin.

 I hesitated for a bit, wondering if I should join them, but eventually I decided to stay put. I kept scanning the surroundings for any threat as I heard the group talking and listening to the tone of their voices, the boys were okay.

I heard footsteps coming my way and my guess on who it was, was confirmed as soon as the person spoke.   
“Catch” I turned and dropped my bow in order to catch the can that was thrown at me.

Daryl chuckled at my clumsiness and I just looked at the label of the can.   
‘Peaches’..   
I picked up my bow and walked over towards him.

“We should share them with the group” I said never making any eye contact. His rough fingers wrapped around my arm to stop me.   
“It’s for you” my heart was racing once again by his touch and his husky voice.

“Why?” I just asked without looking at him.   
“You know why” honestly I didn’t. Was it to say he was sorry for his assy behavior or was it some kind of sick idea of payment. I pulled my arm out of his grip.

“No! I don’t know! I will never know what you mean Daryl unless you say it! Say what you mean!” he just stood there lost in words again. I pushed the can against his chest, with him grabbing it just before I let go of it.

“Give it to the group” I said in a cool tone and I walked away before giving him a chance to say something back. I passed Maggie on the way in and by the look in her eyes I knew she heard what had been said between me and the archer.

I held my hand up, before she let the first words out of her mouth.   
“I don’t need to hear it right now” and walked inside dropping my weapons on my bed. I walked towards the master bedroom and knocked before entering.

On the bed was Lori and next to her was Carl feeling her belly.   
“Has it kicked yet?” Lori shook her head.   
“Not today” Carl looked a bit disappointing too.

“Hey little man, has your dad talked to you yet?” he immediately jumped up and nodded like a crazy person which made me laugh.   
“Well, find a pair of jeans that are the most comfortable, lesson number one starts in 5” He gave me a military salute

“Yes Ma’am!” which made me laugh again before leaving the master bedroom. I walked back towards my bag and changed in my training gear. I quickly pulled my hair in a bun and grabbed my Thai boxing gloves and went outside.

Daryl was still on the porch, even though I heard T-Dogg say he should rest and he would take watch. He sat on the wooden boards with his back against the cabin wall. He looked at me and it seemed he wanted to stand up.

I just kicked out my combat boots and took off my socks and jumped over the fence of the porch. The grass was harder than it looked but I didn’t care, it felt good beneath my bare feet. I still felt eyes burning in my back, but I chose to ignore it.

I walked to the middle of the field and sat down with my legs crossed. I closed my eyes and rested my hands on my legs waiting for Carl to arrive. I heard footsteps coming outside, there were multiple, but only one pair coming closer towards me.

I opened one eye and saw Carl in front of me.   
“Sit” I softly said before closing my eye again.   
“Close your eyes, and focus on your breathing”

I took a deep breath in through the nose and exhaled through my mouth.   
“In through the nose and out through the mouth” I said, I heard him breathing and I opened my eyes, seeing the boy right in front of me doing as I say.

I slowly stood up and walked behind him.   
“Clear your mind, let go of every thought that’s in your head” Carl turned around and looked at me.   
“What does this have to do with nun chucks?” I chuckled.

“You’re not even close to be using those. Before I can teach you how to wield them, I need to train your coordination and karate is the best way to do that” I walked back in front of him and his eyes followed me.

“Now, do as I say. Close your eyes and clear your mind” my voice still sounding calm, but a bit more stern. He sighed, but did it anyway. I looked to the porch for a second, seeing Rick and Lori with a big smile on their faces, probably happy their son is not wielding a gun for a once.

My eyes wandered off towards the redneck sitting behind them, his eyes were glued on me. Without breaking eye contact I sat back down, turned my head and closed my eyes once again.

Maybe it would be a good thing to focus on Carl right now and maybe I could even pick up my old promise I made towards the Greene family and turn some of my attention back to Beth.

One thing I was certain of, I needed to take my distance with Daryl until he was ready to say what he meant. If he would ever be ready. I started my steady breathing again, pushing away every thought in my head.

 

 

“We start with Kihon!” I said sternly to Carl who stood in front of me. I had my hands behind my back and was watching him while telling him the techniques I wanted to see. Without hesitation he showed everything that I thought him in the last 4 days.

The first day I just let him meditate and I thought him the essence of Karate. Because it was his first lesson and he had been so excited about it I let him throw a couple of punches with my gloves. The other lessons I was being more strict, teaching him techniques and letting him do some exercises so he would build up his strength.

Even though he complained afterwards about how strict I was, he was as obedient as the first lesson. Letting me know he really wanted it.   
“Kata” I ordered and he did exactly as I asked, knowing exactly what I wanted to see.

I walked over to the porch and grabbed my gloves, hiding them behind my back while walking back towards Carl who was about to finish.   
“We need to work on those a little more, but I’m impressed with how much you learned in these last few days” I said with a proud smile.  
  
“So as a little reward” I handed him my gloves and he eagerly put them on.   
“Attack me” I said and he looked a bit confused.   
“But don’t you need some protection? Or Gloves?” I laughed and shook my head.

“Nope” and I bowed.   
“Oss!” he copied me and said the same. I immediately changed my stance and let him make the first move.

He was hesitant at first, but after me yelling him to go faster or hit me harder he got pretty fanatic. Of course there we a couple mistakes he made, he was being very predictable, but hell this was his fourth lesson and he was doing better than me at age 10.

I blocked most of his kicks and punches of course, I let some of them hit me just for his ego’s sake. After a couple of minutes I noticed he was getting cocky and I just couldn’t allow him to feel that way yet.

I blocked him and counter attacked letting him hit the ground.   
“Never think it’s going to be easy” I said with a stern tone and he nodded while I helped him back on his feet.

We bowed again ending the lesson.   
“Now go eat something” I said while ruffling my hand through his hair. I followed Carl with my eyes, seeing him hugging his mom on the porch who was watching us.

I took a moment of silence with my eyes closed before doing a routine of my own. Practicing techniques from multiple martial arts disciplines. I was engulfed in my own little world, not noticing anyone around me.

I was about to finish when all of the sudden Daryl stood right in from of me. Startled a bit by his sudden appearance I looked him in the eyes. The contact between to two of us was very minimum in the last couple days.

A part of me embraced the fact I could keep my mind off of him, but a bigger part yearned for his company and attention.   
“When you’re done with your little dance routine, Rick wants us to go hunt” I scoffed.

“I could take you down within seconds with my ‘dance’ routines” I said in a bitchy tone. This time he scoffed and even chuckled a bit.   
“Yeah right” he was about to turn around when I grabbed his arm.

Turning it behind his back, kicking one leg underneath his body and threw my arm around his neck forcing him to the ground while his body weight leaning against me.

“I’ll be ready in five” I whispered in his ear, I let him go and I heard laughter coming from the porch. Seeing Glenn and T-Dogg gasping for air. With my head held high I walked inside getting ready for the hunt.

 

When I got outside Daryl just walked away without looking at me or saying a word. I couldn’t blame him really, I did maybe embarrass him a little. I just walked after him into the woods. Time past by and still there wasn’t a word said between us which was killing me.

“You know, you asked for it” I said while looking at him from the corner of my eye. He immediately stood strait and looked at me with anger.   
“What!?” was his response. I turned my body towards him.

“You heard me, you underestimated me and I had to show you that you were wrong” I said calmly, within seconds he was just a few inches apart from me.   
“You caught me off guard, it was just some lucky shot”

I noticed he was positioning his body in an intimidating matter, but I stood my ground. I tried my best to keep in my laughter, but a chuckle managed to escape.   
“What are you laughing at!?” he yelled in my face.

“It’s….Well you should have seen your face when I threw you on the ground” I said while bursting into laughter.   
“Stop it!” he yelled while pushing me back with only the use of his chest. I felt my body hit a tree behind me and I looked at him.

“Wasn’t it you who was laughing at me because I almost vomited because of a dead body” I said seriously and he took a few steps back.   
“That’s different”  I just shook my head and placed my hands on my hips.

“Why!? Because nobody else saw it? Or because a GIRL threw you on the ground” Daryl shot me a death glare.   
“Really Daryl, grow up!” I said and watched him getting angrier by the second.

“You act like a teenage boy worried about his reputation in high school! Grow some balls and tell me what you really..” I got interrupted, I felt the hard tree pressed against my back after I saw his crossbow being dropped to the ground and rough fingers on my face and neck….

But most importantly his cracked lips on mine. The bow that was in my hand slipped through my fingers on the ground. It felt totally different from the first time, the first was sweet and soft and this was pure passion. I felt his lips leave mine slowly and I looked at him, our eyes connected.

“Feel..” I let slip out of my mouth. I saw a small grin forming on his face.   
“You know, I need you to make up your..” Daryl quickly pecked my lips.   
“Mind” I finished.

“You can’t..” his rough finger was pressed against my mouth.   
“Shut up” and I just nodded while he let his hand slide down my neck.

He pulled me back in and the kiss was instantly wild and animalistic. One hand remained on my neck and the other traveled down my body. I felt my whole body tremble underneath his touch, he unfastened the quiver and it fell to the ground.

Next I felt his hand slide towards the zipper of my hoodie. His hand waited, almost like he was asking permission. I pushed my body a bit forward, granting him permission to unzip it and he did.

I lifted my hands for the first time, letting them glide upwards his torso stopping at the top button of his shirt he was wearing under his leather cut. I started to unbutton them one by one, the hand that was on my neck slid down underneath my hoodie and pushed it off my shoulder.

His other hand went down to my butt and stopped just underneath it. I gasped when suddenly he lifted me up and I quickly pulled my legs up and wrapped them around his waist. His hand now rested on my lower back and my arms were around his neck.

I felt him move and slowly closer to the ground. He softly laid me on the ground and broke the kiss for a moment. While he rested his weight on one arm that was placed next to my head on the ground his eyes looked over my body.

His free hand caressed my bare abdomen, since I was still wearing my sports top underneath the hoodie. He traced my tattoos on both my sides and he went in with his lips.

While he kissed parts of my body I let my hands fall above my head. I closed my eyes again while enjoyed every little thing he did. I felt his hand once again in the crook of my neck and I eagerly accepted his mouth back on mine.

My hands went on his shoulders and glided down again, I was a bit frustrated that he wore another shirt underneath his buttoned up long sleeve. I stopped at the hem off that shirt and slid them underneath, letting my hands explore his bare upper body.

Everything around me wasn’t important anymore, I only wanted it to be him and me right now. I took my hands back, wanting to remove my shooting glove and after that my armguard.

  
Suddenly we sat up strait looking in the direction of the cabin.   
“Why was there a gunshot?” I asked in panic. Before he could answer another shot was fired, and we were quickly on our feet.

We gathered our weapons and ran towards the cabin, panic taking over as I heard more shots. We came closer and saw a few walkers in front of us, we shot them down from the back and retrieved our arrows while keeping up our pace.

We jumped over the fence and saw that there was a huge amount of walkers almost breaking through the fence.   
“We have to go! NOW!” Rick shouted from the porch.

All the women of the group were throwing our stuff in the cars while the men were keeping the walkers on a distance. Daryl and I parted ways, him helping the guys and me helping the women.

As soon as I was inside I saw that pretty much all our properties were gone already and they were gathering the last things in the living room. I saw my bag and grabbed it among some of the blankets.

When outside, the guys had moved towards the vehicles, I threw my bag at Glenn and he took it with him towards the car. I jumped on the back of Daryl’s bike and we drove away.

My body was trembling while I wrapped my arms around Daryl’s waist. My mind was having a hard time adjusting to what just happened. One moment things were getting heated between me and the man driving the bike and the next we were forced to flee another safe place.

My body was out of control while I looked back catching one last glimpse of the cabin we called home for quite a while. Not long after, we had left the woods and were back on the main road.

There were still a few walkers coming after us from both sides of the road, but thank god we were faster. Suddenly I felt a warm hand on top of mine and it calmed me down a bit. A smile spread across my face as I laid my head against his back.

Even though we were in danger just a few minutes ago, I felt safe and even happy being close with him once again. We drove for what felt like hours and I could see the sun was starting to set. Daryl let go of my hand as the bike slowly stopped.

The cars in front of us stood still and Daryl stopped next to the front car. Rick immediately got out of the first car and the rest of the group stepped out seconds after him.   
“Is everyone okay?” he asked while scanning the group visibly relieved everyone was here.

I climbed of the bike and Daryl did the same. I felt someone staring at us specifically and I noticed it was Maggie, who had a hard time not to grin from ear to ear. I quickly looked away and looked towards Rick who was talking with Hershel, Glenn and Daryl probably about what to do next.

The rest was checking in on each other and as I feared Maggie came towards me.   
“So, something happened during your hunt, didn’t it?” she asked softly while trying to keep her grin small, but failing miserably.

“What makes you think that?” I asked like I didn’t know what she was talking about.   
“Well, his shirt is unbuttoned and your hoodie is unzipped and oh there is this” she showed me a leaf she just picked out of my hair.

I felt my cheeks burn up as I slapped the leaf out of her hand and quickly zipped my hoodie up.   
“So it did” she said in a mischievous tone.   
“Maybe” I said biting my bottom lip.

“Just don’t tell anyone okay?” I asked softly and she nodded.   
“Of course” she said with a friendly smile before going back towards her sister.

  
We sat in the middle of the road, one car on each side of the group and Daryl’s bike positioned so if we needed to flee we could drive away immediately. It was decided it was too late to keep on driving and looking for a place to stay the night.

So we stayed and we would leave at sunrise. Lori slept in the car, just like Hershel and Rick. Lori because of her pregnancy and the two men because they were the ones driving the cars in the morning.

It was hard to convince Rick to take some rest, since he felt responsible for us, but we managed to persuade him eventually. T-Dogg was standing on one car and Glenn on the other keeping watch. Beth and Maggie lay against one of the cars and they fell asleep.

Next to them were Carol and Carl who laid on a couple of sleeping bags. I was sitting next to Daryl, who still refused to sleep.   
“You really need to rest, tomorrow is going to be a long day. And I don’t think you’ll let me drive” he scuffed.

“Of course you’re not driving” he answered and I just smiled at him. I threw the blanket that was around my legs over him.   
“Then stop being so stubborn and go to sleep” I heard him mutter something under his breath, while I stared into the small fire in front of me.

I looked to the side and saw Daryl looking at me.   
“What?” I asked softly.   
“You need to sleep too” he said and I smiled at him.

“I will, eventually” he just nodded and he laid his head back against the car. I leaned my head back against the car too, but kept my eyes on the warm fire. I felt someone’s fingers wrapped around my hand and I looked down seeing Daryl’s hand from underneath the blanket on mine.

I smiled and decided to close my eyes anyway. Even though the group lost something today, I felt good gaining something I’ve been craving for this whole time in this rotten world….

Feeling safe.


	15. A Good Day

Time had passed pretty quickly since the cabin, the group fell in a routine. We haven’t found a place where we could stay for more than one night. Nowhere felt safe enough and it made me nervous considering Lori is getting really close to her due date. We were always on the run, I was really thankful for the vehicles we still had. I wouldn’t know how we would ever survive this long without them. Thanks to the fact we were always on the move, the training with Carl and the talks with Beth weren’t happening anymore and that bugged me. 

We did find a third car on the road though, that way it was a little more comfortable to travel. Another thing that was a plus in this life on the run, Daryl. Even though he never showed anything in front of the rest of the group, whenever it was just the two of us, I never felt happier. A part of me hated it though, being so secretive, but I couldn’t complain as soon as we were together. 

The only one that knows about us was Maggie, well she found out that day we fled the cabin. I haven’t told Daryl she knows about it, I was too afraid I would ruin what we have right now. Even though I wasn’t sure what we had or were. The two of us alone usually ended with making out, it felt so good and exciting, but I still knew pretty much nothing about the man and that frustrated me a bit. 

I felt like a simple booty call, even though we never went all the way because we were always interrupted. It sometimes felt like he was ashamed of what we were doing. Ashamed of me even, but as soon as we were sneaking around like a bunch of teenagers all those feelings just disappeared. 

It was nighttime and today we found yet another beaten down house where we could hopefully stay the night, before we had to run again. Now that it was getting warmer it seemed like the walkers were getting more active and they were everywhere. 

I volunteered for watch duty this night, seeing as the guys were usually the ones to do it and I thought they deserved some rest. I was standing outside looking over the wide open fields hoping not to see any threats. I had my bow in my hand and my quiver on my back. 

Rick and T-Dogg tried to convince me to start using guns, but I declined. I still hated guns and I really didn’t want to waste any ammo on practicing. Besides I got pretty good with my bow and I was even learning how to make my own arrows. I was doing just fine with my knives and bow. I sighed as I was pacing back and forth trying to see everything. 

Watch duty sure was boring, but I knew the importance of it. I was a bit startled when I felt a hand sliding across my waist, but as soon as I felt my braid being pushed softly to the other side I knew it was Daryl. He started leaving kisses on my neck and I wanted to close my eyes and enjoy the moment. Too bad it wasn’t the best timing.   
“Daryl, we can’t “ I sighed, but my body refused to leave his touch. 

“Everyone’s asleep” he whispered in my ear and the way his breath tickled my neck made my knees weak.   
“I’m on watch” I whispered back trying so hard to fight this. His other hand found his way on my waist too and it became even more difficult to refuse him.   
“You also need to rest up” I said as I placed one hand on his, keeping the other on my bow. 

“I’ll be fine” I turned around and looked at him, his hand now on my lower back.   
“Sleep please, the group needs you fit in the morning” I said placing a soft kiss on his lips. He grunted and sighed afterwards.   
“Fine” he mumbled, he cupped my face and kissed me passionately before leaving me alone in the dark.

I sighed looking at the front door that he just closed, I slowly turned around feeling cold all of a sudden. I traced my fingers on the spot on my neck he just kissed and closed my eyes for a couple of seconds reliving the moment again. Even though it was hard to concentrate after what just happened, I forced myself to push it out of my mind. I had a responsibility here and I wasn’t going to risk that by screwing up. 

The night went by very slowly and I embraced the first rays of the sun. The group was up after a few minutes and started to load the cars. I felt eyes burning on me and I knew it was a certain crossbow wielding man. I tried my hardest not to look his way right now, while helping loading the cars. 

“Lori, you should really take better care of yourself, let me carry it” I said as I ran up towards her taking a big heavy bag out of her hands. She sighed and I guess she wanted to object, but I never gave her a chance. After everything was loaded in the cars we had some breakfast, we shared a couple of cans, which I was amazed about we still had something left. On the other side, I think we all got used to not eating much. 

We barely finished when I noticed something in the bushes, I turned to the group and whistled. A large group of walkers was among the bushes and that was our sign to leave. The group was divided over the cars pretty fast and Daryl and I got on his bike, which was a pretty standard routine for us. While driving I was clinging on to Daryl, trying to find a safe position to sleep in, since I hadn’t got any last night. 

Even though I wanted to sleep, my mind was making it really difficult to do. I was getting pretty tired and frustrated with this running day in day out. Has the world gotten so bad that nowhere was safe anymore? I had noticed everyone was frustrated and done with the situation, but I think Rick was the one who took it the hardest. 

Since he pretty much promised us a safe place a couple months ago and I was pretty convinced he felt the pressure from Lori. Even though she didn’t complain out loud, I guessed it must be difficult to know your wife is about to give birth to your child and not being able to provide her with a safe place to do so. 

While my mind kept running on like crazy I felt my body getting heavier. I placed my hands in Daryl’s pockets from the jacket he was wearing and closed my eyes trying to give in to my body’s needs. I slowly woke when I felt Daryl softly squeezing my hand. My head rose and turned around to see where we were and I saw a house a couple feet away from us. The bike stood still, just like the cars and I climbed off the bike holding on to Daryl’s shoulder since my body was still a bit wobbly from the nap. 

As soon as everyone was out of the vehicles the usual routine started once again. Rick, Daryl, T-Dogg and Carl went inside to clear the house, I wasn’t exactly fond of the idea of Carl doing those things, but he was really adapted to his gun and he was pretty good with it. Glenn and Maggie checked the perimeter and I stayed behind with Beth, Hershel, Carol and Lori. 

I volunteered on staying with them, since Lori was getting pretty vulnerable and I wanted to protect her. Knowing Beth wasn’t really strong and Carol still learning to cope with guns. I didn’t want to burden Hershel with protecting them all by himself. I had my bow ready to attack, Hershel his gun, while we waited for a sign from the rest.

As soon as we heard the whistle from Rick we picked up the bags and walked towards the house. I walked besides Lori and took the bag from her, letting her only carry a couple of blankets. I would probably hate it if someone did that to me, but she had enough to deal with right now. 

We all went inside what I guess used to be the living room and sat down. I refused the can Lori wanted to share with me   
“I’ll manage” I said softly. She probably didn’t agree with me skipping a meal again, but after all this time she didn’t argue with me anymore.   
My attention was on Daryl who was plucking an Owl, I was really curious on how that would taste. 

Suddenly my attention got drawn towards Carl, he walked into the room with two cans under his arm. I saw the labels on the cans while the 13 year old boy was looking for the can opener.   
Dog food… 

Are we really becoming that desperate? My stomach turned a bit and I looked to the side seeing Lori having the same problem. Everyone looked at Carl while he was opening the first can. Rick walked towards him and took the can from his hand and threw it away after looking at it for a few moments. 

The vibe in the room was starting to get unbearable and I kinda felt bad for Carl. His intentions where good, but my stomach was thanking me for not having to eat it yet. Not long after that T-Dogg signed us it was ready to run once again. We packed our stuff quickly and moved like we did every day. 

I wrapped my arms around Daryl’s waist once again and let out a soft sigh as I felt the bike come to live underneath me and started to move. I felt a bit disappointed, not being able to stay in that house for the night. We drove long enough to be sure we would have a moment and think of a new plan. 

 

The vehicles all came to a halt in the middle of the road. While getting off the bike felt even harder than it did a few hours ago, I knew I needed some rest soon. In the corner of my eye I saw Carl being on watch on one point and so was Beth holding an axe in her hands. The rest of the group gathered around the map that was on the light green Hyundai. 

I took my distance and just started to look around us while trying to listen to the conversation they had. I saw Lori still in the car, I felt a bit relieved she was resting now. I overheard everything that was said, but I couldn’t seem to feel hope that we would find anything soon. T-Dogg then proposed to go the creek to get some fresh water, I turned around seeing a small group already leaving. 

“Hey, while the others wash their panties. Let’s go hunt. That owl didn’t exactly hit the spot” I heard Daryl say, I looked towards him and saw he was talking to Rick.   
“I can come too” I offered, but both boys shook their head.   
“You need to rest properly for now” I sighed as Rick said that, but didn’t even fight with Rick and Daryl’s decision. 

I walked towards our newest car, a Dodge ram, and dropped the tailgate, I wasn’t gonna sleep inside the car, that’s for sure. I climbed in and pushed aside some of our stuff and laid down a blanket. This wasn’t the first time I did this, so I got pretty used to the hard surface. 

Using my bag as pillow, I laid on my back en stared at the sky. Too bad it was too cloudy, I would love to see the blue sky again. I closed my eyes and allowed my body to rest. I have no clue on how long I’ve been out, but next thing I know Rick and Daryl were back from the hunt. The small group that went to the creek had also returned for quite some time. Rick told us about the prison he and Daryl had found and now we were on our way to go there.

That little nap I had really helped, I felt a lot better, but it could also be that little adrenaline rush I got from hearing we might finally have a safe place. We found a spot to park our vehicles a couple feet away from the outer fence. We grabbed our tools and weapons and ran towards the gate. While Rick was cutting the gate the rest of us watch his back, ready to kill any walkers that were coming towards us. I looked to my left as Glenn pushed a walker against the fence and Maggie killing it. 

“Watch the backside” Rick ordered.   
“Got it” Lori answered. The gate was open and we all climbed through it one by one. Rick was the last one to go through it. Daryl and Glenn managed to close it with some wire, which they were just in time doing seeing as a walker plunged his body against the fence when they just finished. We all started running again towards the main entrance. 

My adrenaline level got even higher while we were running in between fences and walkers from both sides trying to get to us. I was running besides Lori, my left hand was on her lower back trying my best to support her while keeping up with the group. We reached the gate and we all looked around.   
“It’s perfect” Rick said, what we probably all were thinking. 

“If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We’ll take the field by tonight” Rick said.   
“So how do we shut the gate?” Hershel asked, but before Rick could answer Glenn volunteered.   
“I’ll do it. You guys cover me” Maggie was shaking her head, not agreeing with his plan. 

“No, it’s a suicide run” Glenn looked at Maggie for a brief moment before looking back at the rest of us.   
“I’m the fastest” he stated. I wanted to interrupt, wanting to say that I could do it too since I can’t shoot a gun, but Rick already started to give out orders. 

“No, you, Maggie and Beth draw as many as you can over there. Pop ‘em through the fence… Daryl, go back to the other tower, Carol you’ve become a pretty good shot. Take your time. We don’t have a lot of ammo to waste… Hershel, you and Carl take this tower. All right….. I’ll run for the gate” everyone scattered around, doing what they were told. I was walking towards Rick. 

“I’m coming with you” I said sternly, he shook his head.   
“I need you here” he said. 

“Bullshit. I suck at using guns. I’m of better use right beside you. And from that tower over there, I have a better change at shooting down a couple of these mother fuckers with my bow.” Rick still looked a bit hesitant, but I knew he didn’t have the time to think of something else and he knew I was right.   
He nodded and we both walked towards the gate where Lori was waiting to let us through. 

I had placed my bow on my back and grabbed both of my knives. Everyone around us was luring them towards the fences. Lori and Rick quickly looked at each other before Rick nodded he was ready and we both went through. 

We walked around the truck that was laying in front of us, I stayed close behind Rick while cautiously moving forward. We started running and Rick started shooting. I heard bullets fly all around us and I knew that the people in the tower had our backs. There were a couple walkers in front of us, and Rick started shooting, I started to take down one on our side with my knives. I saw an opening to the gate, I placed on knife back in its holster. Without thinking twice or communicate with Rick first, I took the two large karabiners linked together with a small chain out of his hand and started running. 

I heard a short yell coming from rick but I ignored it. I grabbed a hold of the fence kicking a walker, which was trying to get through, back as far as I could and closed the gate. I secured the gate with the karabiners and grabbed my knife that I dropped in front of the gate. I looked to the side, seeing Rick standing in front of the guard tower with the door already open. 

We stepped over the dead walker Rick shot and we ran up the stairs. I had put my last knife back in its holster and grabbed my bow. I hear Daryl faintly from a distance yelling   
“Light it up!” and I started to shoot my arrows in as many walkers as I could hit. It didn’t take us long to take out all the walkers in the courtyard and I looked over towards Rick. We both had proud grins on our faces. 

“We did it” we said in unison and without thinking I hugged him tightly feeling proud of what we just did. After I let him go I saw he was a bit startled by my action but he still smiled at me. We quickly went downstairs and saw the rest of the group entering the yard. 

 

“Oh! OH! We haven’t had this much space since we left the farm!” I hear Carol say in an ecstatic tone. Everyone let out some cheers in relieve and the smile on my face couldn’t be bigger. I walked around the yard started to gather my arrows and I came across Daryl who was doing the same. He looked a bit angry at me and I knew why.   
“What the hell were you thinking?!” he asked trying to keep his voice down.   
“I was thinking this was my way to help” I said quickly walking away, afraid of him giving me a lecture. 

After a quick rest, some of us went back to the vehicles parking them right in front of the main gate and bringing some of our stuff in the courtyard. It was dark now and everyone except for Rick and Daryl sat around the fire. I had managed to avoid Daryl for the remaining of the day, but I knew I couldn’t do that forever and soon I had to talk to him again. 

Rick was still walking around, probably looking for unsafe spots and Daryl was keeping watch on the tipped over truck at the main gate. Everyone was eating from the meat the boys had hunted today and was cooked over a fire. I heard some of them talking around me, but my mind didn’t register what they said.   
My mind was distracted when Carol got up and took a plate to bring towards Daryl. 

A part of me hated Carol right now, seeing her this close to him. The other part of me painfully reminded me that he wasn’t mine officially.   
“If you stare any longer, everyone will noticed your green face” I heard Maggie suddenly whisper in my ear. I looked at her, feeling my cheeks turn red. 

“Oh shut it” I said while eating the last piece of meat from my plate. She just chuckled and I just prayed nobody heard her. In the corner of my eye I saw Carol and Daryl walking towards us again. Which gave me a pretty satisfied feeling.   
“Bethy, sing Paddy Reily for me. I haven’t heard that, I think, since your mother was alive” my head shot up as Hershel asked that. 

“Daddy, not that one please” I heard Maggie plead next to me and it was silent for a moment.   
“How about Parting Glass?” he then asked. Beth looked a bit shy.   
“No one wants to hear” she said softly. 

“Why not?” Glenn asked.   
“Okay” she said hesitantly and the girl started singing.   
Everyone enjoyed the singing, even Rick came back. It sounded so good. Eventually Maggie joined in too, I couldn’t stop smiling hearing them sing. As the song ended, I felt the presence of someone behind me. 

I look out of the corner of my eyes carefully and saw Daryl and Carol behind me.   
“Beautiful” I hear Hershel say and it drew my attention back to the rest of the group.   
“We better all turn in. I’ll take watch over there” I heard Rick say and I looked at the man. 

“Got a big day tomorrow” Carl looked up towards his father a bit confused.   
“What do you mean?” he asked.   
“Look, I know we’re all exhausted. This was a great win… But we’ve got to push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact… They’d have an infirmary, a commissary.” 

“An armory?” Daryl interrupted and Rick nodded.   
“That would outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden’s offices would have info on the location….. Weapons, food, medicine… This place could be a gold mine” I liked hearing all that. 

“We’re dangerously low on ammo. We’d run out before we make a dent” Hershel noted.   
“That’s why we have to go in there hand to hand…. After all we’ve been through, we can handle it, I know it…. These assholes don’t stand a chance” I was a bit afraid of going in there, seeing that there were a lot of walkers in there, but Rick did had a point. We’ve been through a lot already, so we should be able to do it. 

After Rick left, Lori soon followed behind him. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but looking at them I just knew they were arguing once again. It kind of made me more motivated to go in there tomorrow, wanting to provide an even safer place for her. Because all of the stress we’d been through lately, she could use some security. 

My eyes were on the fire for a while, slowly getting the feeling someone’s looking at me. I carefully looked around and my gaze met Daryl’s. He was sitting at the other side of the fire, I smiled softly towards him. Before laying back down pulling the blanket that was on my feet over my body. My head rested on my bag as usual, I tried to sleep, but I already knew my mind wasn’t going to make it easy on me. We made some real progress today and I hoped tomorrow would be as good as today.


	16. Overthinking

The morning came way too soon and I had trouble waking up for the first hour or so. Even though we were safe behind fences, the sounds that the walkers made kept me awake most of the night. When I did sleep, I didn’t have pleasant dreams. 

Time flew by pretty quickly that morning and before I knew it we were standing in front of the gate I closed yesterday. Rick, T-Dogg, Maggie, Glenn, Daryl and I were going in. I had my bow on my back just in case and in my hands I had both my knives once again. I was glad Daryl didn’t argue with me about the fact I was going in there with them, but Rick could be the reason for that. 

I saw the two of them talking during breakfast and Daryl didn’t exactly look happy about what Rick had to say. Daryl was standing beside me while everyone was getting ready.  
“Don’t do anything stupid” he said in his usual tone. I nodded  
“I won’t” It annoyed me a bit that he was acting like I’m not strong enough for these things, but on the other side I guess it was his way of showing he cared. Which gave me a warm feeling and I couldn’t help but smile a bit. 

“Ready?” I heard Rick say and I knew I had to focus on our mission. He threw the gate open and we went in. T-Dogg being the first to kill as the rest of us entered. The fence was closed behind us and the rest of the group did their part by trying to distract the walkers from us. We were moving in a solid formation, so no one’s back was uncovered. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as we moved and killed every walker that came close. 

“Don’t break rank!” I heard Rick yell, but I didn’t dare to turn around and see whom he was talking to.  
“We may need that!” I heard T-Dogg yell back. I was in between Maggie and Daryl and never took my eyes off my surroundings. We kept moving and killing. 

“Almost there” I hear Rick say. I looked over my shoulder for a second and saw him opening a door and looking in before continuing. All of the sudden he pushed himself against a wall. We all followed his lead, waiting for a sign on what to do next. Everyone was breathing heavily and I was no exception to that. My body thanked me stopping for a moment.  
Then came the walkers in riot armor, Daryl fired an arrow but it bounced right of its helmet. Another appeared from the door we were standing next to. I killed a walker in prison clothing while the rest were fighting with the armored ones. 

“Daryl!!” I heard Rick yell and I looked towards them. They closed a gate, preventing more from coming our way.  
“See that?” Maggie said ecstatic, as she killed one by pushing her knife in the skull from under the helmet. Glenn and T-Dogg killed one together, Daryl killed one from behind, Rick took down the one that came through the door and I ran towards the one Rick pushed to the ground before he and Daryl closed the gate.  
Placing my hand on top of the helmet and pushing his head back so I could stab him in the head. We all took a breather for a moment, slowly going back towards the fence where the rest of the group was. 

“Stop” And I looked at Rick.  
“Well, it looks secure” Glenn said while walking towards us again.  
“Nothing will lead to that courtyard over there. And that’s a civilian” Daryl noted. 

“So the interior could be overrun by walkers from outside the prison” T-Dogg added.  
“Well if there’s walls down. What are we gonna do? We can’t rebuild this whole place” Glenn said and I couldn’t help but feel all the hard work we did so far was going to be wasted. 

“We can’t risk a blind spot. We have to push in” We all followed Rick inside some cage, walked up the stairs and waited before the entrance of a cell block. We slowly entered and looked around everyone cautious. I had put my knives back and had my bow in my hands and an arrow ready to fire. 

Every door in this place was locked. Rick walked up the stairs of a small guard tower and we all waited. He came down with a set of keys and we went towards the cells. We started checking the cells one by one and I followed Daryl up the stairs. Walking backwards so I was covering his back. Rick ran up from the other side after checking another door.  
While Rick and Daryl walked towards the last cells, I stayed on the perch keeping an eye on everything from a distance. There were noises coming from the left cells and the boys went that direction. There were two walkers stuck behind the locked cell doors. While the boys got out their knives, I aimed for the one that was in front of Daryl, I wanted to show him that I was capable of taking care of business. 

Before he could put him down, I fired my arrow and hit it in its head. Daryl looked over his shoulder towards me, a bit startled and I just stood there with a proud grin. If I saw it correctly he had a small grin on his face too. 

Glenn and Maggie went outside to get the rest of the group and I stayed with the rest of the boys and started cleaning out the dead bodies from the cells. Rick went downstairs to help T-Dogg so I was left with Daryl upstairs. I went in a cell that was already open and started to drag out the body. I heard a thud coming from outside and I knew Daryl already threw one body down. 

I walked backwards and suddenly bumped in to someone.  
An arm came across my face and the hand was holding an arrow..  
My arrow. 

“Nice shot” he whispered in my ear and I dropped the legs to take the arrow from him. I turned around and saw Daryl opening another cell, to get out the walker Rick killed. I felt my cheeks burn a bit, he just gave me a compliment. I placed the arrow back in my quiver, I needed to clean them all anyway. I dragged the body towards the edge and kicked him down. 

After a little while all the bodies were down and T-Dogg dragged the last one out as the rest of the group came in. I was leaning on the railing and looked down at the group.  
“What do you think?” Rick asked while coming out one of the cells.  
“Home sweet home” Glenn said while walking towards a cell to place his stuff. 

“For the time being” Rick commented on Glenn.  
“It’s secure?” Carol then asked.  
“This cellblock is” and could just hear the pride in Rick’s voice. 

“What about the rest of the prison?” Hershel asked.  
“In the morning, we’ll find the cafeteria and infirmary” Rick said as we walked closer towards the group.  
“We’ll sleep in the cells?” Beth asked and that question made reality sink in. We were sleeping in tiny rooms. 

“I found keys on some guards. Daryl has a set too” Daryl walked behind me.  
“I ain’t sleeping in no cage. I’ll take the perch” well there goes my idea. I went downstairs to get my stuff the group brought in. I looked at the cells, some of them were already occupied. 

Beth and Hershel, Lori and Carol, Maggie and Glenn of course. I saw Carl walking towards a cellblock, but I just guessed he would be sharing with his father. I had no idea where T-Dogg would sleep, since he was still outside. I just walked towards an empty cell, I picked the last cell on the right. Since it was one with lesser bloodstains on the walls.  
I dropped my stuff next to the bunk bed and sat on the bottom one. I looked around while taking a deep breath, this was really tight I thought to myself. 

The bed was pretty comfortable though. It was a pretty rough day so everyone stayed in their cells and went to bed I guess. I still sat on the edge of the bed, mentally preparing myself to sleep in a cell. I leaned back a bit and looked through the bars and saw Daryl lying on the perch, a plus side of this cell. I had a really good view.  
My eyes were drawn towards a man sitting against the wall. It was Rick, I was a bit curious why he sat there. Maybe because of the habit of someone keeping guard at night. I stood up and walked towards him. 

“Hey officer” I said with a smile and he looked at me as I sat down next to him.  
“You did great today” he said with a smile.  
“We did” I corrected him and he just nodded. 

“Is there a reason you’re sitting here? Instead of lying in a bed?” I asked and he looked down.  
“Someone has to take watch” he answered.  
“Well, you looked the doors right? So nothing can come to us?” he nodded at both my questions. I slowly punched his shoulder. 

“So, no excuse. We’re perfectly safe and you need some sleep. You had watch last night remember” he chuckled and looked at me.  
“Thank you” I smiled back at the man.  
“You’re welcome” I said as I stood up. 

“Now get that ass in a bed, or I’ll make you” he laughed and got up.  
“Yes Ma’am” he said as he walked towards the cell Carl was in. I walked back towards mine and I lay down this time. 

The good feeling I had since we took this prison, disappeared. It was replaced with a small fear, this room was way too small for my liking. I closed my eyes, hoping the feeling would disappear, but it only got worse. I tossed and turned, not finding a comfortable position. My eyes shot open and my breathing went faster.  
I felt locked and cornered and I hated it. After a while the small fear shifted into anxiety and I felt like breathing became more difficult. I looked at the walls and it felt like there were closing in on me. I jumped out of the bed, grabbing a blanket and pillow and walked out. 

There was no way in hell I was staying in that small space any longer. I laid down a foot away from the staircase. The ground was hard and cold, but it didn’t matter, it already felt better then in there. Maybe I should have taken the mattress, but now I felt too exhausted to get up again and I just went with it. 

 

I moaned as something hit me in the side softly, but shot right up when I heard a familiar voice.  
“What the hell are you doing on the floor?” as my vision got less blurry I looked up at Daryl trying to make up a good excuse.  
“The mattress was too soft” I quickly made up, but his look betrayed that he didn’t buy my excuse. 

“So you sleep in front of the staircase instead of in your cell next to your bed?” I was slowly getting up and collecting my blanket and pillow.  
“Yeah, so what” I said. I felt how sore my body was and I regretted my decision not to take my mattress with me last night. I walked towards my cell to get rid of my blanket and pillow. I threw them on the bed and tried to get the muscles in my neck and shoulders to loosen up, but everything felt so freaking sore. I was softly rubbing my own shoulders hoping that they would loosen up a bit. Since I lied to Daryl and he probably knew I was lying, I had to think of a new place to sleep and probably a new excuse. 

“Need some help with that?” I turned around a bit shocked by the sudden sound of his voice. He was standing there grinning like a little kid and I smacked his arm.  
“Don’t sneak up on me!” I said in an irritated tone. His grin grew even more and he turned his finger as a sign for me to turn around again. I sighed, but did it anyway not feeling the strength to argue with him right now. He softly pushed me on the bed and sat behind me. His big strong hands were massaging my shoulders and neck. It became a slight challenge to suppress a moan that tried to escape my lips, damn this felt so good..

“The bed’s too soft huh? How’s the concrete floor treathin’ ya?” listening to the way he spoke I just knew that stupid adorable grin was still plastered on his face. I didn’t really know how to answer that, so I decided to keep quiet. His fingers kept kneading my tense muscles and I closed my eyes enjoying every little bit of it.  
“How does it feel know” I heard him whisper and a chill went down my spine, feeling his warm breathe tickle the sensitive skin behind my ear. I moved my shoulders and neck a bit and I felt relieved to not feel the pain. 

“Much better” I turned and looked at him from the side. I quickly placed a small kiss on his cheek.  
“Thanks” I mumbled as I looked down at my hands on my lap, feeling my cheeks turning red as hell. I felt two fingers on my chin guiding my head back up. While I tried to read the expression on his face he took me a bit by surprise when he placed a soft kiss on my forehead. 

“Anytime” he said winking while he got off the bed and walked towards the door. While I sat there processing what just happened, I hadn’t noticed Daryl had turned around again until he pulled me off the bed by my arm. One hand still held my arm and the other was softly caressing my cheek. I looked into his eyes while his face came closer and his lips met mine. 

Every thought just left my mind and my heart was racing. He let go of me and took a few steps back while keeping his eyes on me and he had a proud smile, probably for leaving me breathless in the middle of my cell. He left and I just stood there in the same spot feeling my lips curl up and bit my bottom lip softly. My whole body was tingling and I felt butterflies roaming my stomach. I’ve seen pieces of this sweet side of him before, in the little things he did. Mostly when we were alone, but this….

This was so tender and innocent and it completely blew my mind. I let my body fall, feeling my legs get a bit wobbly and I sat down on the bed. I traced my curled up lips with my fingers while staring at the floor, letting my mind getting taken over by happy thoughts. God I loved the way this man made me feel… 

I ran that thought through my head a couple times and it hit me. I’m falling for him. I’m falling for the loud mouth and stubborn redneck. I’m falling in love with Daryl Dixon.  
That thought made me smile and a bit scared at the same time. What if he doesn’t feel that way about me? But then again would he do those things if he didn’t care? On the other hand I hardly knew the man, I didn’t know what he was capable off… And once again hesitation took the blissful feelings away. Why couldn’t I just stop overthinking shit like this and enjoy what I felt in the moment. 

“Good morning” my head shot up and Maggie was leaning against the doorpost.  
“Morning” I said smiling at the woman.  
“How’d you sleep?” she asked with a playful smile on her face, she probably assumed that Daryl snuck in my cell last night or something. 

“Like a baby” I lied, sounding more convincing.  
I got up, ready to ask her the same thing.  
“Good, oh by the way. Rick is waiting for us. He wants to go over the plans for today” and she walked away leaving me alone. I gathered my weapons and carried them out. I greeted the group and stopped at the table where the guys and Maggie where standing looking over the weapons and some really gross guard armor. I fastened my weapons while listening to the plan Rick had in mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! I know it isn't monday yet, but today I leave for camp for the next week.  
> So since I don't have access to a computer on monday I decided to post the chapter today, so I still keep my promise of posting a chapter every week.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it! I'm curious what you guys think of how the relationship between Kayleigh and Daryl is growing, so don't be shy and let me know!


	17. Prisoners

I was pissed as hell, Rick had told me to stay put so I could protect Beth, Carol and Lori. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t agree with his decision, Carl had to stay behind too for the same reason. Rick gave me the keys and I waited for the group to go. I closed the door behind them, as I was locking it I looked up and my eyes met Daryl’s.  
Even though I knew he could take care of himself worry took over. He was also the kind of person to risk himself to help someone else. 

“Be careful” I said to the group as my eyes never left Daryl’s. The group walked away and out of sight.  
I hated that I was left behind, I turned around and looked at the rest while playing with the keys in my hands. Lori went back to her cell, Carol and Beth just stood in front of the door for a moment and Carl looked bumped. I walked towards the kid and softly tapped his sheriff’s hat.  
“So, as soon as we clean up that big yard outside we have more than enough space to practice again, if you’re still interested.” Carl looked up at me and he had a huge smile on his face. 

“Of course I am!” I smiled back at the boy and nodded.  
“Good to hear” Carol and Beth went towards the cell Lori was in, probably checking up on her.  
“Wanna play a game?” I asked Carl and he hesitantly nodded. I sat down with my legs crossed and pointed towards the spot in front of me. He sat down and I held my hands up letting the insides face upwards. 

“Now let’s test your reflexes” I said with a playful smile.  
“Hold your hands up with your palms facing down and try to hit my hands” Carl confidently puts his hands up and immediately tries to hit mine, but failed. It took Carl a few tries, but eventually hit me. 

“Now it’s my turn” and we both flipped our hands. Within my first try I hit him and we turned our hands again.  
“So, why are you being so distant with your mother?” he just shrugged and looked at our hands while we kept playing the game.  
“You know she could really use your support right now. She’s gonna need you even more when the baby gets here” Carl kept quit, but I knew I asked hard questions since his enthusiasm went down. 

“She needs your love Carl, especially now” I said in a soft tone. His hands went down and he looked to his lap.  
“I’m scared” he said barely loud enough to hear. I scooted closer and wrapped my arms around his shoulders pulling him closer.  
“I know you are, we all are. But everything is gonna be just fine” Carl soon wrapped his arms around my waist and we just sat there. I knew this must me hard on the little boy, his mother was carrying a baby and that was a dangerous thing in this world. I was thankful we found the prison in time, it gave me hope. Now only one thing scared me, will she make it through? I knew that must be on the mind of everyone, but nobody talked about it. 

I had no idea for how long we sat there, when suddenly we heard a door open. We both jumped up hearing voices.  
“Open the door! It’s Hershel!” I heard Rick scream and I immediately opened the door leaving the keys in the lock. It was instant chaos, Hershel laid on a rolling table clearly missing a piece of his leg and covered in blood. 

The rest was all around him, also covered in blood. I stood still at the door, trying to wrap my head around what just happened. They all ran in the cell and I knew I wouldn’t be much help in an already overcrowded small space. T-Dogg stood next to me, I’ve seen everyone except Daryl. Where was he? I took a step so I could see the space next to the cellblocks and saw him standing there with one foot on the bench of a table aiming his crossbow at the entrance they just came out of. 

 

“That’s far enough” I heard him say and I immediately grabbed my bow from my back.  
“Cell block C. Cell 4, that’s mine Gringo. Let me in” I heard a strange voice say. I drew an arrow out of my quiver, ready to shoot if necessary.  
“Today’s your lucky day, fellas. You’ve been pardoned by the State of Georgia. You’re free to go.” It was quiet for a moment and then I heard that voice again.  
“What, you got going on in there?” 

“It ain’t none of your concern” Daryl shot right back.  
“Don’t be telling me what’s my concern” A different voice then spoke  
“Chill man, Dude’s leg is messed up. Beside we’re free now. Why are we still in here?” I looked at T-Dogg and he was listening to the conversation.  
“The man’s got a point” I heard Daryl respond. 

“Yeah, and I gotta check on my old lady” another voice, so there are 3 men at least, I thought to myself.  
“A group of civilians breaking into a prison you got no business being in. Got me thinking there ain’t no place for us to go” I took another step and I was now standing on the other side of the door, trying not to get seen by anyone.  
“Why don’t you go find out?” Daryl spoke once again. 

“Maybe we’ll just be going now” a fourth voice.  
“Hey, we ain’t leaving” I heard the first voice say. I saw T-Dogg move quickly with a gun in his hand.  
“You aren’t coming in either” while he spoke I came out of my hiding spot, my bow drawn.  
“Hey, this is my house, my rules. I go where I damn well please” I looked at the man that was holding the gun.  
“Are you deaf!?” I spoke harshly. 

“You are not coming in” I said word for word. In the corner of my eye I saw Daryl look at me for a second before turning his attention back to the men. I looked at each one of them, so there were five. I looked at the man in the front, who was taking a leader role, probably because he had the gun. He was eyeing me up and down.  
“Keep your eyes to yourself dirt bag, or you’ll lose one” I said aiming for his head. 

“You’re way to cute to make threats like that sugar” I rolled my eyes and was ready to speak, but Daryl interrupted.  
“I wouldn’t provoke her if I where you” and he took a small step closer also aiming for his head.  
A discussion started between the two men and I just analyzed every prisoner in front of me. The one with the gun and the small dark one gave me a bad vibe, the one with the gun for obvious reason and the small one because he was being too quiet and I didn’t trust it. 

“There ain’t nothing for you here. Why don’t you go back to your own sandbox?” I heard Daryl yell.  
"Hey hey hey hey! Everyone relax, there’s no need for this” I heard Rick say and he stopped next to me with his machete in his hand.  
“How many of you are in there?” the front man asked Rick.  
“Too many for you to handle.” Rick said calm, but threatening. 

“You guys rob a bank or something? Why don’t you take him to a hospital?” he asked. I shared a quick eye contact with Rick before turning my attention back to the men.  
“How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?” Rick asked back.  
“Going on like 10 months” he spoke, looking a bit confused at us.  
“A riot broke out. Never seen anything like it” the largest of them all said.  
“Attica on speed, man” a blonde shorter one said. 

“We heard about dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy” the short dark one spoke.  
“One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria. Told us to sit tight, threw me this piece, said he’d be right back.” The one with the gun said.  
“Yeah and that was 292 days ago” the men in the back said.  
“94 according to my calcula..” the blonde man said before getting interrupted  
“Shut up!” it was quit for a moment. 

“We were thinking that the army or the National Guard should be showing up any day now.” The one in the back spoke again.  
“There is no army” I said stern, even though it hurt me to say.  
“What do you mean?” one of them asked.  
“There’s no government, no hospitals, no police. It’s all gone.” Rick answered calmly. 

“For real?” the blonde one asked.  
“I’m serious” Rick still calm.  
“What about my mom?” the largest one asked sadly.  
“My kids? And my old lady? Yo, you got a cell phone or something, that we can call our families?” Daryl moved a bit closer.  
“You just don’t get it, do you?” he asked followed by Rick talking. 

“No phones, no computers. As far as we can see, at least half the population has been wiped out. Probably more” Daryl lowered his bow a bit, but I refused even though the man in front of me lowered his gun. They all looked a bit in shock, I didn’t blame them, it was pretty heavy shit.  
“Ain’t no way” the man in front of me said.  
“See for yourself“ Rick said pointing his machete at the door. The men moved towards the door and T-Dogg and Rick were right behind them. I wanted to go, but was stopped by Daryl. 

“Stay here” he said.  
“Excuse me?” I looked at him while lowering my bow.  
“We don’t know what these guys are capable of, you’re probably the first woman they’ve seen in a very long time” I shrugged.  
“So what, last time I checked I threw you and your brother on the ground. I can handle myself” I said walking past him.  
I heard him grunt and his footsteps were close to mine. 

“Don’t leave my sight then” I nodded, that was an order I could live with. I felt Daryl’s body right behind me as we walked outside, I guess someone got protective. Even though I always hated to be controlled by someone, this time it felt good to know he felt the urge to protect me.  
I felt the sun on my skin as I stepped outside and I had to agree with one of the prisoners that was stating how good the sun felt. I just looked around as the rest of them did too. I haven’t been outside since we fought our way into the prison and I was pretty impressed on seeing what we have done yesterday. 

“You never said, how the hell did you get in here in the first place?” the small dark one ask.  
“Cut a hole in that fence over there by the guard tower” Daryl simply said.  
“That easy, huh?” he asked in return.  
“Where there’s a will there’s a way” he responded in the same tone. 

“Easy for you to say” he retorted back. Daryl had stopped right beside me and I must admit I liked him standing so close, as I still didn’t trust any of those men.  
“So what is this, like a disease?” the biggest one asked after he poked a walker.  
“Yeah, and we’re all infected” Rick answered.  
“What do you mean infected? Like AIDS or something” the blonde one asked, out of all these guys I distrusted him the least, he seemed kinda decent.  
“If I was to kill you, shoot an arrow in your chest, you’d come back as one of these things. It’s gonna happen to all of us” Daryl said and I noticed he took a little step forward, so I was standing in his shadow. 

“Ain’t no way this Robin Hood cast is responsible for killing all these freaks. Must be 50 bodies out here” the one with the gun said before turning towards Rick.  
“Where’d you come from?” he then asked.  
“Atlanta” Rick simply answered. 

“Where are you headed?” he asked while he took a few steps closer towards Rick. I tightend my grip on my bow, I surely as hell trusted him the least.  
“For now, nowhere” Rick answered while he turned his body towards the guy. The guy nodded and started to look around. He pointed towards the fields as he spoke.  
“I guess you can take that area down there near the water. Should be comfortable” and he looked back towards Rick.  
“We’re using that field for crops” Rick said. 

“We’ll help you move your gear out” he spoke ignoring Rick’s statement completely.  
“That won’t be necessary. We took out these walkers. This prison is ours” I was getting a bit impatient with these guys.  
“Slow down cowboy” and the small dark one stepped up saying  
“You snatched the locks off our doors” I looked over towards the other prisoners, not wanting them to do to anything while we weren’t paying attention, but I kept listening to the conversation. 

“We’ll give you new locks, if that’s how you want it” I tried my best not to let out a chuckle when Rick said that.  
“This is our prison. We were here first” I slowly let my eyes go back towards the conversation.  
“Locked in a broom closet? We took it, set you free. It’s ours, we spilled blood” I noticed Rick was starting to lose his patience too.  
“We’re moving back into our cell block” the prisoner said. 

“You’ll have to get your own” he said, clearly irritated by the stubbornness of the man in front of him.  
“It is mine. I’ve still got personal artifacts in there. That’s about as mine as it gets” he said angrily as he pulled his gun. I immediately had my bow up aiming for his head.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Maybe let’s try to make this work out so everybody wins” the blonde one stepped in. The boys where all standing pretty close together, only Daryl and I kept our distance a bit. 

“I don’t see that happening” he said still holding his gun.  
“Neither do I” Rick agreed.  
“I ain’t going back in that cafeteria for one more minute”  
“There are other cell blocks” the blonde tried to reason with his inmate.  
“You could leave” I said 

“Try your luck out on the road” Daryl finished. It was quiet for a moment as the inmates all looked at each other.  
“If these three pussies and a little girl can do all this, the least we can do is take out another cell block” the one with the gun said and the urge to shoot him on the spot grew as he insulted us.  
“With what?” the big one asked.  
“Atlanta there will spot us some real weapons. Won’t you boss?” he said as he looked back to Rick. 

“How stocked is that cafeteria? It must have plenty of food. Five guys lasting almost a year?” Rick asked.  
“It sure as hell don’t look like anybody’s been starving” Daryl added.  
“There’s only a little left” the self-proclaimed leader said.  
“We’ll take half” Rick said sternly. 

“In exchange, we’ll help clear out a cell block” I was wondering how much a little was in their eyes, the group could really use some food right now.  
“Didn’t you hear him? There’s only a little left” the small dark one spoke.  
“Bet you got more food than you got choices. You pay, we’ll play. We’ll clear out a block for you, then you keep to it” Rick stated and the prisoner nodded  
“Alright” Rick stepped forward as he continued to speak. 

“Well, let’s be clear. If we see you out here anywhere near our people, if I so much as even catch a whiff of your scent. I will kill you” the two men looked at each other for a moment before the guy finally agreed.  
“Deal”. I cautiously lowered my bow, I still wanted to be ready to show one of them if I had to. We all went back inside, the prisoners let the way back to the cafeteria. In front of me was T-Dogg and Rick and behind me of course Daryl. 

 

As we walked through the halls I looked to the ground and saw all the dead walkers. I looked back up as soon as I saw red blood, fresh blood on the ground as I knew it had to be the spot Hershel got bitten. I saw the open doors of the cafeteria and we all went inside.  
“Pantry’s back here” the man with the gun spoke. 

“You never tried to break out of here?” T-Dogg asked as we all looked around. That’s when I tuned out, my eyes were drawn towards a pool of blood on the ground. In that pool was a severed leg, Hershel’s severed leg. I felt my stomach doing all sort of crazy things as I fought back the urge to puke, but still I couldn’t take my eyes of it.  
I felt a hand on my shoulder and finally managed to turn my eyes away from the leg looking towards a concerned look from Daryl. 

“I’m fine” I lied and I walked towards the pantry like the rest. As we walked towards the pantry, I could see a few things from a distance. But I was just as surprised as the rest of my group when I saw how many there was. Daryl went in first with his flashlight ready.  
“This what you call a little bit of food?” he asked the leader. 

“Goes fast” I let my eyes screen every box, can and bag I could lay my eyes on. I haven’t seen this much food in one place since this whole mess started.  
“You can have a bag of corn, some tuna fish” he started to point towards some stuff in the pantry.  
“We said half” Rick and I said in unison, we looked at each other for a second. 

“That’s the deal” he finished as he started to look around.  
“What’s in there?” he asked as he was about to open a door.  
“Don’t open that” one of the inmates said, but Rick did it anyway. 

He immediately closed it after the bad smell made him cough and gasp for fresh air. I heard the arrogant laugh of the leader and shot him a death glare.  
“He wanted to know” he nonchalantly said to another inmate.  
“Can’t wait for my own pot to piss in” the blonde said who was standing beside me. 

I looked at him for a brief moment before stepping into the pantry and started to gather food with Daryl. We handed two boxes filled with cans to T-Dogg and two big bags to Rick. I bent down to grab another big bag and swung it on my shoulder after I had put away my bow.  
The reason for me to carry one back was simple, I wanted one free hand so I could still hold my knife. I felt eyes burning on me and I turned around. I looked at the leader who was eyeing me up once again. 

“Don’t make me warn you again, I’m even more dangerous with a knife!” I said threatening before leaving the pantry.  
I heard him chuckle, but I chose to ignore him this time. We all walked back towards cellblock C, it felt good to finally have a decent amount of food again and I couldn’t help but smile a bit while we walked back towards our block. 

 

“Food’s here” T-Dogg yelled as we walked in, I placed the bag on the ground and grabbed the bag of weapons that was in one of the cells and walked back towards Daryl and the inmates. I laid the weapons out on the table as Daryl stood beside me.  
The inmates looked a bit confused and they all picked something and gave it a closer look. I took a step back and started to check if my weapons were in place. Knives.. check. Kunai.. check. Nun chuck.. check. 

I looked to the side and the look Daryl gave me, told me he didn’t want me to come.  
“I’m not staying behind again” I whispered to him.  
Moments later Rick and T-Dogg joined us and we all looked towards the inmates who were still a bit confused by our weapon choices. The leader held out the crowbar in front of him as he looked towards us. 

“Why do I need this, when I got this?” he asked while he once again pulled out the gun. I internally sighed, he really loves that gun.  
“You don’t fire guns, not unless your back’s up against a wall. Noise attracts them. It really riles them up” Daryl simply explained.  
“We’ll go in two by two. Except for Daryl, Kayleigh and T, you’ll run point. I’ll bring up the rear with you” Rick said while looking towards the small dark inmate. 

“Stay tight, hold formation no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down. Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head.” Rick told everyone.  
“And that’s where you aim. These things only go down with a head shot” the leader scoffed. 

“Ain’t gotta tell us how to take out a man” he said while looking at the crowbar in his hands.  
“They ain’t men, they’re something else” T-Dogg told them.  
“Just remember, go for the brain” Rick added. 

“Okay, one concern though.” The leader said while he looked at me.  
“Is it really a good idea to take a girl on a man’s job?” he said while he had a vile grin on his face.  
“This ‘girl’ can take you out without even breaking a sweat and before you can pull that little gun out of your pants” I said with an attitude. He looked unimpressed.  
“Don’t worry about her, she’s been through worse” Rick said sternly and I thought I noticed a hint of pride in his tone. The inmates nodded and we all went towards the hallway. With Daryl, T-Dogg and myself leading the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys! I'm back from camp and since it's Monday. It's time for a new chapter!  
> I'm glad to see the views and kudo's keep rising and I'm really happy about the fact that some people bookmarked my story.   
> I still wish to hear some more from you guys!
> 
> So once again, don't be shy and let me know your thoughts on this story =D


	18. Trust

We were back in the cold dark halls of the prison again, but this time we were not going to the cafeteria. We were on our way to clear out another cellblock. I walked besides Daryl taking the lead, I had my full concentration on my surroundings while I kept my knives high. We waited when we were at a corner and as soon as Daryl gave us the sign we moved again. 

“Man, it’s too damn dark in here” I heard one of the prisoners say.   
“Gotta hold it up high out in front of you. You’re gonna hear them before you see them” Daryl said.   
“It’s coming!” I heard yelling behind me and right after that I heard someone shush him. I kept looking to the front as I saw one walker coming from around the corner and soon another one. They were both heading our way. 

As I waited for Daryl to give the sign to attack, I almost got run over by the screaming prisoners that ran towards the walkers. I was astonished by what was happening in front of us, it looked like a scene from some prison movie. I looked at the three men besides me and they had the same look on their faces.   
We stood there for a couple of seconds while the prisoners kept screaming and stabbing the walkers everywhere but the head. I rolled my eyes and sighed, I’ve had enough of this shit. I threw both my knives in the heads of the walkers and the prisoners looked towards me as the walker’s bodies went limp. 

“You need to hit their brain” I said really slow as I was talking to some five year olds.   
“Something you seem to be missing” I mumbled under my breath and I heard the boys next to me chuckle as I walked towards the bodies to retrieve my knives. I still felt the eyes off the prisoners glued to my body, but I simply ignored them as I nudged Daryl to come and lead the way again. 

We got back in our formation and we went further. I heard the growls coming from a distance and so did Daryl as he took a few steps forward.   
“It’s gotta be the brain. Not the stomach, not the heart. The brain!” he said right before he fired an arrow in the first walkers’ head. Finally they seem to understand it. As Rick killed one with his machete and stepped back he spoke mainly to the prisoners. 

“Stay in tight formation. No more prison riot crap” As more walkers were coming I made sure I had Daryl by my side, since I wasn’t trusting these prisoners with my life. I jammed my knife in a walkers’ skull and kicked him back with my foot to release my knife again. I heard a scream coming from behind me and I looked around seeing who we were missing. 

Before I even could realize who was screaming I heard gunshots. I looked towards Rick who was standing I front of the large prisoner and by the look on his face it wasn’t good. Rick turned the prisoner around to look at the wound and I kept my distance, not leaving Daryl’s side.   
“I’m telling you, I don’t feel anything. It’s just a scratch” the man said.   
“I’m sorry, man” Rick answered.   
“I can keep fighting!” the smaller dark one interfered. 

“You cut that old guy’s leg off to save his life” Rick pointed with his flashlight towards the guy.   
“Look at where the bite is”   
“Guys, I’m fine! Just.. I’m fine. Look at me.. I’m not changing into one of those things” the large guy started out with yelling but calmed down at the end.   
“Look, man, there has to be something we can do. We could just lock him up?” another said. 

“Quarantine him” and that’s when I kinda blocked out the discussion that was starting to happen.   
I gasped for air and bumped into Daryl as I took a step back. That leader guy just smacked his fellow inmate in the back of his head. The shock grew as he kept jamming his weapon into the head of the dead body on the ground. I knew that guy wasn’t going to make it, but ending it like that is just plain inhumane. 

“Don’t look at that” I heard Daryl whisper as he turned me around. I didn’t want to look weak, but this caught me off guard and I was thankful Daryl had noticed. We all stood there for a moment and I turned back seeing the guy covered in blood and heavily breathing. I managed to keep my face in a straight line, but from the inside I wanted to kick the shit out of that asshole. 

 

We slowly started moving forward again, our formation changed. T-Dogg was in the front, behind him were the prisoners and Rick, Daryl and I closed it. I wanted to walk in the front to have T’s back, but Daryl kept me by his side. I was walking behind Daryl, mainly keeping an eye on everything behind us. You could never be too sure. As we were walking I overheard Rick and Daryl. 

“You see the look on his face?” I looked over towards the front and saw Rick and Daryl keep a close eye on the blood covered inmate and Rick nodded.   
“He makes one move” and Daryl simply gave him a nod.   
“Just give me a signal”. 

After some walking we stood in front of a door, which T-Dogg slowly opened. Keeping my eyes on the hallway, I walked in with my back facing the room. I closed the door behind us just in case and looked around. We had entered the laundry room and everyone was checking it to make sure it was clear.   
We all gathered in front of double doors and Daryl threw his keys to the blood stained leader who was standing right in front of them.   
“I ain’t opening that” he said as he looked at Rick and Daryl. 

“Yes, you are. If you want this cellblock, you’re gonna open that door. Just the one, not both of them. Because we need to control this” As the leader bent down to grab the keys from the floor, I mentally prepared myself for yet another walker fight. After a few tries to find the right key he finally unlocked the damn doors.   
“You Bitches ready?” he said with a cocky grin while he looked back at us for a second. He pulled on the door, but it seemed to be stuck.   
“I got this” he mumbled as he kept pulling the door. Then he pulled both doors open and jumped back. 

“I said one door!” Rick yelled angrily as he jammed his machete in the first walker.   
“Shit happens” I heard the man say. As I killed my first walker by jamming both my knives in his skull, I saw in the corner of my eye that the bastard pushed a walker on top of Rick. I managed to get to him and stabbed the walker in the head.   
“T, mind the gap” I heard Daryl say behind me. After Rick pushed the walker off of him, I looked towards the bastard that tried to get Rick killed with a death glare. Rick stepped towards him and he immediately had a lame excuse. 

“It was coming at me, bro”   
“Yeah, yeah, I get it… I get it” Rick calmly said. I slowly made my way to the other side of Rick, knowing he was going to do something and I wanted to make sure that the small dark inmate didn’t do anything stupid.   
“Shit happens” Rick said and the two intensely stared at each other.   
I heard the man beside me scream as Rick jammed his machete into the bastards’ head. I saw that he wanted to attack Rick with his bat and I kicked him against his knee. I looked to the ground and saw him staring at us with fear in his eyes. He quickly got up and ran away. 

Without thinking twice I went after him   
“Parker!” I heard Daryl yell from behind, but I went anyway. The halls were dark, but I was really close behind him so I didn’t need a light yet. Soon I noticed a light coming up from behind me, but I didn’t look back to see who it was since I didn’t want to lose this guy.   
I ran after him through a door and before I knew it we were outside in a fenced area filled with walkers. I felt a hand around my arm pulling me back inside and it closed the gate as the inmate wanted to run back in. I looked to the side while listening to the pleading of the inmate. 

“You’d better run” Rick said in a cold tone and the inmate ran away. I looked at Rick’s blood covered face for a second..  
He just saved my life…  
We went back through the door as we still heard the guy screaming outside. A part of me felt a bit guilty for leaving him out there like that, but the major part of me thought that he was getting what he deserved. We stood still for a moment, both catching our breaths as the screams from the inmate stopped. 

 

Neither of us spoke a word as we walked back towards the laundry room, I guess we both didn’t know what to say. As we entered the room, the last two prisoners were on their knees with their hand in the air. Rick immediately walked towards the biggest one and held him under gunpoint as the small blonde one was under T’s gunpoint.   
I stepped over the dead walker bodies and stopped at a small wall behind the blonde and leaned back while keeping my eyes on both prisoners. My heart rate still wasn’t normal yet and I knew I asked too much of my body once again. I really needed to stop skipping meals so much if I was going to continue contributing to the group like this.

“We didn’t have nothing to do with that” the largest one simply said as Rick held his gun towards his head.   
“You didn’t know?! YOU KNEW!” I heard the anger in Rick’s voice and honestly I didn’t blame him.   
“Daryl, Let’s end this now!” Rick yelled as he pointed his gun towards to blonde. Daryl immediately held his large hunting knife on the throat of the other. I stood up straight again ready to do something when needed, but the blonde started to plead right away. 

“Sir, please, please.. Listen to me! It was them that was bad. It wasn’t us”   
“Oh, that’s convenient” Rick yelled while pushing his gun closer towards his head.   
“You saw what he did to Tiny.. He was my friend. Please, we ain’t like that.. I like my pharmaceuticals, but I’m no killer. Oscar here, he’s a B and E, and he ain’t very good at it neither…” I heard the sincerity coming from his words and it made me feel kinda bad for him.   
“We ain’t the violent kind, they were! Please, I swear to God! I wanna live!” I heard the tremble in his voice and I knew he was on the verge of crying his eyes out. Rick angrily turned back around pointing his gun at Oscar. 

“What about you?” Rick asked sounding a little more calm now.   
“I ain’t never pleaded for my life.. and I ain’t about to start now. So you do what you gotta do” apparently he didn’t fear death as much as the other. We all stood there for what felt like for hours when Rick finally lowered his gun and T was next and after him Daryl put his knife back. 

 

After another silent walk we reached the cellblock D. The two were pushed inside, and I stayed on the other side of the bars.   
“Oh man” was the first thing the man said whose name I still didn’t know.   
“I knew these guys. They were good man” he said, his voice still sounding sad.   
“Let’s go” Rick ordered and I sighed, this felt a bit cruel to do.   
“So you’re just gonna leave us in here? Man, this is sick” Oscar said. 

“We’re locking down this cell block. From now on, this part of the prison is yours.. Take it or leave it. That was the deal” Rick said while walking towards me.   
“You think this is sick? You don’t wanna know what’s outside.” Daryl added.   
“Consider yourselves the lucky ones” Rick noted before he walked away.   
“Sorry about your friends man” Daryl said as he dragged me with him to follow Rick. I was too tired to even fight back. Seconds later T-Dogg was behind us and we all went back towards our cellblock. 

 

My mind felt like it was overflowing, trying to process everything that happened today. The day started so sweet and calm and after that it was chaos all over the place.   
“Hershel stopped breathing.. Mom saved him” was the first thing I heard when we entered the block.   
“It’s true” Glenn added. 

We all went towards the cell Hershel was lying in. I stayed outside just a step behind Daryl. I looked towards the old man that was lying on the bloody sheets, despite all the blood around him, he looked so peaceful. Like nothing happened, like he was just sleeping.   
After a while he slowly opened his eyes and I heard all kinds of sounds of happiness. I had a small smile on my face as I looked at the Greene girls crying tears of happiness. I took a few steps back, feeling relieved that he was going to be okay. Daryl looked back over his shoulder and he took a few steps towards me. 

“Are you okay, you look paler than usual” he said and I just shrugged.   
“Yeah I’m fine, I just need some air” I said with a weak smile and I walked towards the exit. I heard footsteps behind me and I knew it was Daryl.   
Once outside I ignored the dead walkers this time, I just stepped over them as I walked towards the bleachers. I sat down and looked at Daryl that was standing a few feet away from me. 

“I think I’m pretty safe out here with these fences around me” I said a little playfully, but he just shrugged. I leaned my head on my hands and looked at the floor.   
“Can you stop getting yourself in trouble for once” I heard him mumble and I looked up at him a bit confused.   
“Running after that guy on your own” he said while he looked the other way.   
“Rick was right behind me, plus I’m not helpless. I can fight, you know that” he looked at me and I just couldn’t read his expression right now. 

“I know you can fight! But somehow you attract trouble towards yourself. I don’t want you going off by yourself” I rolled my eyes.   
“Do I need to remind you about our little run in the woods a couple months ago. You getting’ tripped by a walker” I looked away.   
“That happened twice, so what” I said grumpy, not feeling like getting a lecture from him right now.   
“That’s twice too many! You saw what happened to Hershel today!” I looked at him again and saw that he was closer right now.   
“And he made it didn’t he?” I asked him and he sighed. He took a step closer and his look was softer now. 

“Don’t you get it? I don’t want something like that happening to you!” I felt my heart melt, this was one of the sweetest things he ever said to me. I smiled at him as he tried to act casually.   
“Okay, I’ll try even harder to keep out of trouble, But you need to start to trust me and my abilities” and I looked back towards the ground again. I heard him sitting down next to me and I looked up in front of us. 

“Do you think we did the right thing? Leaving them in that cell block?” I asked after a few minutes of silence.   
“We can’t trust them” he simply said and I looked towards him.   
“I’m not sure about that” I said avoiding eye contact with him.   
“We’ll shall see” he mumbled. I looked in front of me again. 

“Don’t worry about it too much okay?” he said as I felt his body heat closer to me this time.   
“I can’t..” I felt his gaze on me, but I never turned my head towards him.   
“I made a promise to Dale’s grave..” and I felt a lump forming in my throat, I still missed him so much.   
I closed my eyes for a second before finally looking at Daryl, who had a curious look in his eyes. 

“I promised him that I would do anything for the sake of this group. Protecting everyone in it, making sure it would never be survival of the fittest.. but survival for us all” it was hard for me to hold back tears, but somehow I managed.  
“That’s why I need to know if we did the right thing” I said looking down. Then something happened, I never expected him to do. His strong arm went around my waist and he pulled me closer. He leaned back against a higher bench and he held me close against his own body. 

“You haven’t broken that promise.. trust me..” hearing those words come out of his mouth meant so much to me. I let my body relax and I listened to his steady heartbeat. As I allowed the pace of his heart calm every bit of my body, I also took in his smell.   
Even though he was still dirty from the day, I picked out the scent I remember from his jacket I wore on the farm for one night. I closed my eyes and just hoped his steady heartbeat and his intoxicating smell would stay with me for a long time.


	19. Mister Dixon

Sweat was dripping all over my body as I was dragging yet another walker towards the place we were gathering them. Even though the sun was starting to set, after a day working in the sun it was getting pretty unbearable at this point. I was wearing my sport top and a self-made pair of shorts. I also wore one of my plaid shirts with the sleeves rolled up, just to protect my shoulders.

The last thing I wanted was getting sunburn and I just had delicate skin when I came to the sun. After I dropped the walker next to the growing pile I walked over towards a place of shade. We had a few bottles of water standing there and I grabbed one. I swiped my hand over my forehead, to get rid of the most sweat still dripping down. I took a small sip from the water and it felt great.

“You’re quite a tease you know that right?” I look to my right to see Maggie approaching with a huge grin on her face. I looked at het a bit confused before taking another sip and passing Maggie the water bottle.  
“With that little clothes you’re wearing, you’ve got someone’s attention” she said still grinning and accepting the bottle I handed to her. I look to my left and I saw Daryl in the distance. He immediately looked the other way when I caught him looking in my direction.

“It wasn’t on purpose or anything” I said feeling a blush coming on my cheeks. I heard her chuckle and I looked towards her.  
“But, it’s always good to know what he likes to see” I said playfully and she just laughed.  
“How is it going between you two?” she asked and I bit my lip.

“Good I guess, I mean when it’s just the two of us. He is surprisingly sweet” I took the bottle she offered back.  
“You don’t sound very happy about it” she said looking concerned at me.  
“Well, I guess I want to be more than a secret. Officially you don’t even know about us. If there really is an ‘Us’.. I don’t know.. I’ve never been good with this stuff and I’m guessing he isn’t either, but sometimes I’m a bit jealous of how Glenn treats you. I know they are two totally different men, but.. I don’t know” Maggie placed her hand on my shoulder.

“Give him time, if he’s surprising you when you’re alone, maybe he will surprise you in public too. And trust me, I sometimes wish Glenn could be less clingy.” She added as a joke and we both laughed.  
“Maybe you’re right and I’m overthinking shit again” I said while looking around. This place was really looking good without all the death walkers lying around.  
“We’ll talk later” she said with a smile before walking towards Glenn.

“I still can’t believe this place is ours” I was a bit startled by the sudden voice and I looked to the side to see Rick approaching, sweat dripping over his face.  
“Same here” I said with a smile as I gave him the bottle I was still holding, since I guessed that’s what he came for. He gladly accepted and took a few sips.  
“Thank you, by the way” I said with a smile and he looked at me a bit confused.

“For what?” he asked before he took another sip.  
“Well everything, allowing me to stay with you on the farm. Trusting me the last couple months and of course saving my life two days ago” he shrugged.  
“I should thank you too, you saved mine that same day” I looked over the property again and enjoyed the silence for a moment.

“We did the right thing right? Not letting that bastard back in” I needed to ask, it was haunting me ever since the moment it happened.  
“He couldn’t be trusted. And ‘we’ didn’t do anything. I did” he said in his usual calm voice. I sighed still not convinced it was just Rick who did it, I never objected so I felt like I was responsible too.  
“Don’t worry about it okay?” he asked before putting the bottle down and I just nodded, but I knew I couldn’t let it go. I just stared in front of me, enjoying the sight of the green fields.

“So.. I noticed you and Daryl got really close in the last months” I was caught a bit off guard and I felt my cheeks heathen up immediately. I looked to the former sheriff and I really didn’t know how to respond to that. I saw the grin on his face getting even bigger.  
“The only reason I noticed was the fact that every time we’re about to do something risky, he doesn’t want you involved. Like when you ran after that guy alone, he was the one that sent me behind you. Plus I saw you two the other day outside on the bleachers.” I got nervous as he said all those things and I started to fumble with my shirt. I looked down as I tried to come up with an excuse. I heard him chuckle and I looked back up again.

“It’s not a bad thing you know. Truth be told, I was only guessing something was up between you until now. Your reaction confirmed my suspicion” I bit my lip for a second.  
“Please don’t say this to Daryl..” I spat out. Rick looked at me a bit confused.  
“I don’t know how he feels about people knowing. Even though Maggie knows..” Rick looked at me a bit surprised.

“Maggie knows huh?” I felt my face getting even redder, if that was even possible.  
“Well.. she found out at the cabin.. but I haven’t told Daryl about her knowing and I’m afraid if I tell him I might ruin this.. and honestly I don’t even know what this is..” I started ranting and Rick just nodded.  
“At the cabin huh? That long already.” I nodded and looked to the ground.

“Please Rick, don’t tell” I begged. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked back up.  
“I won’t tell. Don’t worry, but I might have to punch him in the face if he’s using you though” he said with a grin and I smiled a little.  
“Thank you”

 

Rick whistled a couple times and everyone knew that as a sign to gather around. Everyone was there, except for Hershel, for obvious reasons and Lori, Beth and Carl were inside too. They were keeping an eye one Hershel and start cleaning on the inside.

“Were almost there people. It’s getting dark soon so we’ll continue in the morning by bringing the cars in and burning the bodies.” Everyone looked a bit relieved that we stopped for the day and honestly I agreed, it has been a long day.  
“T-Dogg and Carol, if you can check out the guard tower, to see if it needs any reinforcements or something that’s broken. Then we’ll know what to do tomorrow” they nodded.

“Daryl and Kayleigh, will you check out the one at the main gate? Then the rest of us gathers our equipment and we’ll meet each other inside for dinner”  
I was a slightly mad for Rick intentionally putting Daryl and me on a job after the talk we just had. I looked at him and he had a hard time covering the grin on his face as he felt my eyes burning on him.  
“Yo Parker! We ain’t got all day” I heard Daryl yelling and I looked and saw he was already walking.

“I hate you” I whispered to Rick.  
“You love me and you know it” he whispered back a grin clearly on his face by now and he walked away with Maggie and Glenn to do their task. I ran towards the guard tower where Daryl was already checking the outside of the tower.  
“No major damage on the outside” he said as I came closer.

“Good, time to check the inside” we went inside and once again I was faced with a small space. The last time I was in one of these I immediately ran up the stairs with Rick, so I was never confronted with the small space of staircase.  
I walked to the back of the open stairs and started looking for flaws. The door closed and I felt a bit uncomfortable, but I tried to ignore it. Though there was something I couldn’t ignore.

“Is there something you want to tell me Mister Dixon? Because you’ve been staring at me all day” I said as I looked out of the corner of my eye between the steps at the man standing on the other side.  
“Nope” he answered while he kept looking at me.

“Well are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me? I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty hungry” I said trying not to blush as he kept staring at me. I focused my eyes back on the steps I was checking when suddenly my feet weren’t touching the ground anymore.  
I squealed softly as I felt two strong arms around my upper legs right underneath my ass. I looked down and saw Daryl standing in front of me with a huge grin plastered on his face. I felt my face get warmer and I immediately looked back up and cleared my throat.  
“Looks good to me” I said while looking at the steps at the top, I could now see clearly thanks to him lifting me up.

“Good” he said and suddenly let go of me, but caught me in time so I wouldn’t smack down to the ground. Another squeal escaped my lips at his sudden move and I grabbed on to his shoulders. I softly smacked one.  
“Stop doing that” I said feeling a bit embarrassed by the sounds I produced.  
“Or else what” he said while his grin got more playful and his hand lingered on the small of my back.

“Or I smack you harder next time” I said provokingly.  
His hands left my back, trailing up my body while he softly pushed me back against the wall. He grabbed my wrists and held them above my head. His face came closer and I felt his hot breath against my ear.  
“I like to see you try” he whispered in his deep voice which sent chills down my spine.

“I can still kick you” I said trying to sound confident, but fearing I failed miserably. Damn, this man knew just how to make me weak. He held my wrists together with one hand as the other slid down my torso. He quickly kicked my legs apart, grabbed my left thigh and pulled my leg up while he pushed his own body in between my legs.  
“Looks like I’ve got you cornered now” he whispered in my ear and he slowly turned his face towards me. I looked him in the eyes and my heart started to race as I saw the lust in his eyes.

“I guess I’ll just have to give in” my whisper was barely audible, but loud enough for him to hear as he aggressively attack my lips.  
I usually hated being controlled, no matter what situation or whom with. But for some reason it was a real turn on, him taking control like this. While the kiss lasted I tried to get my hands free since I wanted to grab him, I just felt his grasp got tighter. His lips left mine and I opened my eyes a bit trying to look at him but soon his face was buried in my neck kissing every inch of it. I arched my back enjoying every second as our bodies touched.  
As his mouth went lower and lower, an annoying voice started nagging in the back of my head.

“Daryl..” I said pleading and out of breath. His face came back up and he looked at me, well my mouth, and he just nodded.  
“I hate to break this, but…” he loosened the grip on my wrists and let go of my leg.  
“I know” he grunted. As soon as he let go of my hands I cupped his face and kissed him.  
“Come to me, when everyone’s asleep” I whispered in his ear and kissed his neck. I took a step back and grinned towards him.  
“Now let’s head back, before people start to suspect something. Plus I really need to freshen up cause I smell like a pig and probably look like one” I said walking towards the door and opened it.

“You don’t” I looked back a bit confused and saw Daryl staring at me once again.  
“You don’t smell” he said as he walked towards me.  
“Plus you look really hot like that” he whispered in my ear and once against his voice so close gave me chills.  
I blushed like crazy not knowing what to say as Daryl just had a playful smile on his face.  
“See you tonight” he winked and walked back towards the prison. I just stared at him walking away,

god..  
That man knew how to spin my head right round.

 

We all sat on the ground in a circle in our cell block enjoying dinner, except for Hershel and Beth who were eating in the cell. It wasn’t much since we had to ration the food we had, but it was more than we usually had on the road. Plus we could eat it without keep looking over our shoulders for danger.  
We all laughed and joked about all kinds of little stuff. Right now we were talking about what we missed most about the old world. They all had silly things like a laundry machine, a real kitchen, an ice cold beer after work, a glass of wine, Carl even missed school.

“So Kayleigh, what do you miss?” Carol asked.  
“Pizza and beer” I immediately blurted out. They all started laughing.  
“Why doesn’t that surprise me” Rick said laughing. I just shrugged.  
“Pizza and beer night was a tradition me and my father had.” I said with a smile.  
“After I picked him up after another mission. We started with country songs in the car ride home. Ordering pizza, drink beer and watch bad horror movies.” I felt my eyes watering while I was reminiscing those nights.

“It usually ended with a belching contest” I said laughing.  
“Like a true lady” T-Dogg said jokingly.  
“Hey I never said I was and I’m proud to say, I won a couple times” and everybody laughed.  
I felt good, to relax a bit telling old stories. After a while, Lori and Carl went to bed. T-Dogg and Rick after that, Maggie and Glenn went to the guard tower to take ‘watch’ like they were really going up there for that.

“Can you help clean up a bit” Carol asked me and I nodded.  
“Of course” I locked eyes with Daryl for a moment and he softly nodded.  
“Goodnight Daryl” Carol yelled as he walked up to the perch. He just waved and while giggling a bit Carol and I started to clear out the plates we used.

 

It took longer than I expected and I hoped Daryl was still awake. Since I needed an excuse not to sleep in that tiny cell. I’ve managed to escape that until now, I woke up in that cell yesterday. After the evening I was outside with Daryl on the bleachers, apparently I fell asleep outside against him and last night I took watch, so I didn’t have to sleep in that cell.  
But ever since the last two inmates had their own cell block, ours was locked at night just in case. I looked up at the perch and saw Daryl completely covered in his sleeping bag. I couldn’t blame him though, he must have been really tired after today.  
I rubbed my neck, feeling the soreness and I sighed. I guess it’s the cold concrete floor again for tonight. I walked in my cell and arms wrapped around me pulling me against a body. I wanted to scream, but a hand covered my mouth.

I tried fighting to get out of the hold when I heard a familiar voice whisper.  
“Took ya long enough” he let me go and I slapped Daryl on his shoulder who was trying to hold in a laughter.  
“Stop scaring me like that” I whispered angry.  
“I can’t help that you’re so jumpy” he said softly grinning from ear to ear.

“Who isn’t in a world like this” I shot back. He chuckled.  
“We’re in a locked cell block, I think you’re pretty safe from harm” I shook my head and turned my back towards him while walking towards my bag and took off my knives.  
His arms snaked around my waist and he let his head rest on my shoulder.  
“Besides I’m here” he said sounding a little cocky. I turned around in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck.  
“Someone feels highly about himself” he pushed a few loose strands of hair out of my face.  
“I’m just stating facts” I leaned my head back.

“Oh really?” I said as I pushed him back a bit. He just shrugged and I pushed him down on the bed. I slowly took of the plaid shirt I was wearing while I stood in front of him. He sat on the edge of the bed looking at my every move.  
“Better check to see if you’re really that good” I said while stepping closer and sitting on top of his lap. His hand slid around my waist and he looked up.  
“We’re gonna have to be quiet though.” I said looking down and letting my fingers tangle up in his hair.

“Can you do that?” I said while closing the gap between our lips.  
“Yes Ma’am” he said slowly closing his eyes.  
“Good” I said before softly kissing him.

It didn’t take long for the kiss to deepen and his hands to cup my ass. I softly pulled on his hair and I broke the kiss. His head was tilted back and he looked at me waiting for my next move. I felt good taking charge this time and I made the best of it.  
I started in his neck, leaving kisses as I moved back up. I heard his breath getting a bit more shallow, but that wasn’t the reaction I was trying to get. I now reached his earlobe and softly bit it and I heard him gasp a little. I lowered my mouth again and this time bit his neck. A low growl escaped his mouth and I felt a hand on my back and another in my neck trying to pull me even closer.

I bit again this time a little harder and the growl was heard once again. I felt him shift underneath me and he was lifting me up a bit turning us. The next moment I was on my back and Daryl crawled on top of me. We froze as our weight was completely on the bed making it creak underneath us pretty loudly. We chuckled  
“And again fate is against us” I said trying to contain my laughter.  
“Maybe we should take the next watch shift” I said grinning.  
“Yeah, I would like that” Daryl said before kissing me sweetly.

“I’d better go” he said as he moved back up.  
“You can still stay the night…” he looked back at me.  
“If you want” I added a bit insecure. I saw a small smile and he crawled behind me, laying on his side with his back against the wall. The bed was creaking loud as I shifted in a comfortable position and felt him pull me close against him.

“I need to get a better bed” I said jokingly.  
“Hell yeah” I heard behind me and I closed my eyes. It didn’t feel as suffocating in this small space, with his strong arm around my waist.  
Hearing a steady heartbeat faintly and feeling his slow breaths on my shoulder after he buried his face in my neck, felt comforting.  
“Goodnight” I softly said as I felt myself drift away. Feeling a soft kiss on my shoulder as response.

I really could get used to this.


	20. A Long Day

I heard the bed creak, while I was slowly waking up. After that I felt someone crawl over me, but I couldn’t react yet. I felt someone’s hand caress my face and I felt a soft kiss on my forehead. I was finally able to open my eyes and I saw a blurry Daryl sitting on the edge of the bed putting on his shoes.

“Good morning” I said softly, my voice a bit hoarse. He looked at me and smiled.  
“Morning” I sat up straight and leaned against his back. Placing one hand on his shoulder and wrapped my other arm around his waist.  
“How did ya sleep?” he asked while he placed his hand on mine on his waist.

“I haven’t slept this good, since…. I don’t even remember” I said giggling and he chuckled.  
“And you?” I asked. He turned his head and he looked at me while my head was resting on his shoulder.  
“Pretty good.. even with all your moving around and the lack of space” he said with a grin.

“I’m sorry” I whispered while hiding my face behind my hair. He turned around and cupped my face after he pushed the hair out of my face.  
“Don’t be” he said kissing me. He stood up and I looked at him with a smile.  
“I’ll see you in a few” he said winking before he left the cell.

I sat on the edge of the bed and I couldn’t help but smile like an idiot. I tied my combat boots after deciding to keep my sweaty clothes on from yesterday, seeing as today was going to be a long one as well. I stood up and started to fasten my knives back on my legs. After grabbing my plaid shirt from the ground I walked out of the cell while putting the shirt on.

More people started to wake up and I saw Daryl on the perch grabbing his stuff.  
“Someone looks happy” I looked in front of me and saw Rick standing in front of me with a smile on his face.  
“Good morning to you too sheriff. I just had a good night sleep for a change.” His smile turned into a sly grin.  
“That’s all?” he asked softly.  
“That’s all” I said grinning back.

 

After a quick breakfast, Rick, Carol, T-Dogg, Daryl and I went outside to get the last parts of cleaning done. We all stood at the main entrance as Carol drove the Dodge on the yard, I looked around. The sun was already burning hot and I just knew it was going to be a long day.

“Okay, let’s get the other car in. We’ll park ‘em in the west entry of the yard” Rick ordered.  
“Good, our vehicles camped out here look like a giant ‘vacancy’ sign” Daryl added.  
“After that, we need to load up the corpses so we can burn ‘em” Rick said.

“Gonna be a long day” T added what I was thinking.  
“Where’s Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help” Carol asked.  
“Up in the guard tower” Daryl said while he pointed towards the tower.  
“Guard tower? They were just up there last night” Rick added as we all turned towards the tower.

“Glenn! Maggie!” Daryl yelled. After a few moments a half dressed Glenn came out of the door.  
“Hey, what’s up guys?” he yelled back.  
“You coming?” Daryl asked and the rest started to laugh at the sight.  
“What?” Glenn yelled back.

“You comin’?” and I couldn’t help but laugh as well when I saw the way Glenn was looking.  
“Come on, we could use a hand!” I yelled at them.  
“Yeah, we’ll be right down” I heard Glenn shout back. We started to walk to the main entrance again.

“Hey, Rick” T said and we all turned around and looked at the direction T was looking in. We saw the two inmates walking towards the fence.  
“Come with me” Rick said as he was walking towards the inmates. We all followed him and I just hoped this was going to end well.

“That’s close enough” Rick said as we stood a couple of feet in front of the two.  
“We had an agreement” Rick added.  
“Please, mister. We know that, we made a deal. But you’ve gotta understand we can’t live in that place another minute. You follow me? All the bodies… people we knew. Blood, brains everywhere. There’s ghosts.” The blond said, which I believe his name was Axel.

While Axel was talking, Maggie and Glenn walked out of the tower and stood behind the inmates.  
“Why don’t you move the bodies out?” Daryl asked.  
“you should be burning them” T added.  
“We tried, we did” Axel answered nervously.

“The fence is down on the far side of the prison. Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. So hump in a body and just running back inside” Oscar added.  
“Look, we had nothing to do with Thomas and Andrew. Nothing!” Axel starting pleading while taking a few steps towards us, well Rick mainly.

“You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro. We’ll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Just, please, please. Don’t make us live in that place” as I listened to his plead, I started to feel bad for those two. The way he described how it was to live there and not being able to properly get rid of the bodies of the people they knew sounded horrible.

“Our deal is not negotiable” Rick sternly said.  
"I told you this was a waste of time. They ain’t no different than the pricks who shot up our boys” Oscar said while he looked at Axel briefly before turning his attention back to us.  
“You know how many friends’ corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw ‘em out like… These were good guys. Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint, like Thomas and Andrew.”

I really felt for them, it must have been hard. I knew it didn’t bother me as much to drag these walkers out, but that was probably because I didn’t know them.  
“We’ve all made mistakes to get in here, chief. And I’m not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me we’ve paid our dues. Enough that we would rather hit that road than go back into that shithole.”

I saw Rick look behind him towards Daryl who was shaking his head. I actually believed those two, I couldn’t see why they couldn’t be assets to the group. They seemed sincere and there were no sign except for their prison attire why we couldn’t give them a chance.  
Rick decided to lock the prisoners up at the main gate. We stood a couple feet away from them behind a prisoner transport truck that was on his side. I was looking at the two, not really paying attention to the conversation.  
“Are you serious? You want them living in a cell next to you? They’ll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?” Rick asked T-Dogg.  
“I never stopped. Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves” he responded.

“I don’t know. Axel seems a little unstable” Glenn said worried.  
“After all we’ve been through? We fought so hard for all this, what if they decide to take it?” Carol added in the same worried tone.  
“It’s just been us for so long. They’re strangers, I don’t… it feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around” Maggie said.

“You brought us in” T simply stated and I was agreeing with him.  
“Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms. Didn’t give us a choice” Maggie replied.  
“They can’t even kill walkers” Glenn said. I was getting a déjà vu from the discussion we had on the farm about Randall.

“They’re convicts, bottom line” Carol stated.  
“Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do” T saying what I was thinking.  
“I get guys like this. Hell, I grew up with them. They’re degenerates, but they ain’t psychos. I could have been with them just as easy as I am out here with you guys.” Daryl added, I was kinda relieved he felt that way.

“So are you with me?” T asked.  
“Hell, no! Let ‘em take their chances out on the road.. Just like we did” and the relieve was gone.  
“What I’m saying, Daryl…” T got interrupted by Rick.  
“When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid. Wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial… Suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and in 2 weeks later shot another girl.”

All of the sudden T’s eyes were on me.  
“You’ve been awfully quit” after that everyone looked at me.  
“Any thoughts?” Rick added. I got nervous after hearing everyone, not sure if my opinion mattered.

 

“I stand with T, they could be an asset to the group. Not everyone in prison is violent, just like model citizens can be homicidal nutjobs. And when I look at those two, I don’t see bad guys. Oscar seems to me like your typical though guy, but not a bad one and Axel is just a real sensitive guy, who is scared to death by the world we live in right now.”

T looked relieved I was on his side, but the rest just looked at me if I was being serious. Rick shook his head.  
“We’ve been through too much. Our deal with them stands” Rick and Daryl walked away first, the rest followed leaving me and T standing alone. We looked at each other for a second, but didn’t say a word before following the rest. As soon as we caught up to the rest of the group I heard Rick barking orders again.

“Move the cars to the upper yard point, them facing out. They’ll be out of the way, but ready to go if we ever need to bail” Carol, Maggie, Glenn and Daryl sped up towards the gate to get the last remaining vehicles.  
“We’ll get the prisoners a week’s worth of supplies for the road” Rick said to me and T.

“They might not last a week” T said.  
“It’s their choice” Rick replied.  
“Did they really have one?” I asked.  
“Hey, hey” Rick tried to stop us both from walking.

“Whose blood would you rather have on your hands? Maggie’s? Glenn’s? Daryl’s?” Rick was looking at me when he said the last name.  
“Or theirs?”  
“Neither” T simply answered before walking away. I looked at Rick and sighed.

“Do we really have to do this?” I pleaded.  
“We have no other choice, a deal’s a deal. We can’t take the risk” I looked down and just shrugged.  
“Can you gather the supplies for the prisoners? While the rest of us deal with the vehicles” I just nodded.  
“Yeah.. sure.. whatever you want boss” I said turning around walking towards the prison.

 

 

I walked out of the prison carrying a box of supplies, I still wasn’t agreeing with the plan. Glenn was walking towards my way and he stopped in front of me.  
“I’ll bring it to them. Get the rest of your gear, we are going out for firewood soon.” I just nodded.  
“Meet us at the hole in the fence we came in” he said with a small smile.

“I’ll see you there” is said smiling back, even though I still didn’t believe we were doing the right thing with the inmates, but what Rick says, goes. I was lost in my own trail of thoughts when I was standing in my cell, gathering my remaining weapons.

After I fastened my kunai case to one of my belt loops I grabbed the quiver and slung it on my back. Grabbing my bow as the last thing and I walked out of the cell again. A smile grew wide on my face as I saw Hershel coming out of his cell walking on crutches.

“Looking good Hershel” I said with a smile. He looked at me with a smile.  
“Do you want to take a rest?” Lori asked who was standing directly next to him ready to catch him if he fell.  
“Rest? Let’s go for a little stroll” I let out a giggle when Hershel made that comment and I walked with him, Lori, Beth and Carl outside.

I went first, opening the doors for them. Lori was in front of Hershel and Beth and Carl behind him, to help him whenever he needed. It went slow, but steady and it was amazing to see him up again. I took a few steps back as I watch them slowly get down the small stairs. I looked to my left and saw T-Dogg, Maggie and Carol standing by the vehicles all smiling at Hershel walking again.

Hershel, Carl, Lori and Beth walked towards the fence, while Hershel was mainly looking around the property.  
“All right, Hershel!!” I heard yelling from behind and I turned and saw Daryl, Glenn and Rick at the fence. I looked at the gate and saw that is was locked. I walked towards the cars wanting to ask if one of them had the keys so I could go out there. When all of the sudden I hear Carl yell

“Walkers! Look out!” I turned around and saw a group of walkers walking towards us. Everyone started shooting while Beth was leading her father to a safe place. It was chaos instantly and I was firing arrow after arrow trying to keep those bastards away from us.  
“Lori! Here!” I heard Maggie scream form the left.

She was standing at the opening of our cell block.  
“Kayleigh!” I heard Lori yell after she and Maggie got there. But sadly every way I had towards that door was cut off by walkers who were walking towards me and I had just fired my last arrow.  
“Go!! I’ll manage!” I yell back, while I started running towards the cars, since they were closest to me.

I was glad they didn’t lock the cars and I got in to the first one as soon as I could. I felt someone holding the car door back as I tried to close it. The growls were close and I started kicking like a maniac to get that walker away from the door and my body. After a few good kicks the walker fell and I could close the door just in time since now five were surrounding the car and trying to get in.

My breath was out of control, but I felt a bit relieved I was safe for now. Between the walkers I could see T and Carol, but I couldn’t see if they were unharmed when they went through a door. I saw Hershel and Beth safe and sound behind the fence of a small staircase. I looked towards our cell block door and noticed Maggie, Lori and Carl were gone.

They were probably inside, I hoped. I looked towards my right and saw the 3 men running towards the gate, with the inmates close behind. I just hoped they were here before the walkers break down the car windows. I heard a small cracking noise and my eyes were immediately drawn towards the car window and I saw it was getting weaker.

My heart started to race and I held up my knife. As the crack in the window got bigger, my nerves got higher. I was ready to stab the mother fucker in the head when the window got painted in his blood and the walker went limp.

Just like the other four next to it and I saw Daryl standing with a bloody knife breathing heavy. I opened the door and without thinking in walked towards him and hugged him.  
“Just in time like always” I said as I let him go.

He looked a bit shocked by my sudden reaction, but there was no time to talk about it. We both ran back towards Rick and Glenn and we four killed the last couple of walkers. After every walker dropped to the ground I started to gather my arrows as quickly as I could.  
“Those chains didn’t break on their own. Someone took an axe or cutters to ‘em” Glenn said and I looked up at the boys.

Rick looked behind him at the inmates who were now standing at the gate.  
“You think they did it?” Glenn asked.  
“Who else?” Rick immediately answered.  
“When would they have done this?!” I asked angrily, since I couldn’t see when Oscar and Axel would have done this today.

If they did this this morning when they walked up to us, we should have seen walkers sooner. Before Rick could answer me a loud noise started, like a siren.  
“What’s that?” Rick asked and we looked around, hoping we could find the source of the sound.  
“Oh! You gotta be kidding me!” Daryl yelled.

Rick threw the keys at Daryl, and started shooting at the speakers that were hanging on the walls. I looked towards the outer fences, worried about all the walkers this noise is going to attract, I really didn’t want to lose this place after all we’ve done for it. Rick ran towards the inmates and I ran after him. He pointed his gun at Oscar

“How the hell could this be happening?” he yelled angry.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! It has to be the backup generators.” Hopefully they knew where those generators were.  
“Well, How do you turn those on?” Rick asked while pointing his gun at the speakers.

“There’s three that’s connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison. The hatch shut them all off when the prison was overrun” Oscar answered. In the corner of my eyes I saw that Daryl was aiming his crossbow on the two. I looked back at the inmates and Rick, we needed to fix this soon and chances are we were going to need these guys to do it.

“Can someone open up the main gates electronically… with full power?” Rick asked stepped even closer to Oscar.  
“I only went in a few days. I guess it might be possible” Rick grabbed Oscar’s shirt and started to drag him towards the C block entrance.  
“Come with us!” he yelled.  
“Let’s go!” Glenn yelled as we all ran towards the entrance.

I had my bow in my hand and a knife in another. As soon as we got in we started killing every walker in sight.  
“Lori!! Carl!!” I heard Rick yell and we all went towards him and stood in front of our cells.  
“We just took down five of ‘em in there” Daryl said as he was reloading his crossbow.  
“There were four in here, but no sign of Lori or anyone” Rick said a bit worried.

“They must have been pushed back into the prison” Glenn stated, sounding a bit more hopeful than Rick.  
“Somebody is playing games! We’ll split up and look for the others” Rick said while walking out of this room towards the halls of the rest of the prison.  
“Whoever gets to the generators first, shut ‘em down!!” Rick yelled as we all ran towards the hall. Rick, Daryl and Oscar went left, and I decided to go right with Glenn and Axel.

We were running and running, I just hoped we, or the others, would find those damn generators soon. We all killed a few walkers and we were now standing, needing to make a choice soon.. Left or right.  
“Which way is it Axel?” I asked losing my patience a bit, thanks to those stupid siren’s and hearing walker sounds all around us.

“Left” he finally said  
“Good.. let’s..” I turned around midsentence hearing growls coming way to close.  
“Shit” this group was a lot bigger and I wasn’t sure if we could take care of them without getting hurt and find the generators in time.

“Come on Kayleigh” I heard Glenn, but I already had another plan.  
“Go! I’ll distract them and go the other way” I said walking closer to the walkers and started yelling at them.  
“Are you crazy!?” he yelled while grabbing my arm.

“Yep! Just go!! I’ll be fine. I’m fast. GO!!!!” I yelled pushing him towards Axel who grabbed Glenn by the arm and they were gone. I started to skip backwards  
“Come one uglies!! Come and get me!” I kept yelling while going right. It might be a real stupid idea, I was thinking while running since I had no idea where I was going. But it was too late now…

I just hoped I wouldn’t get cornered by these things..

if that happened..

I would be screwed.


	21. A Long Day (Part 2)

As my lungs started to burn, my heart rate was out of control and I was starting to lose hope I could keep this pace up. I kept pushing my body hoping I could find a place where I could take them out by myself. I looked over my shoulder and it worried me how close these guys were and there seemed to be more than in the beginning. After turning many corners I was so relieved when I found the cell block the inmates used to be in. I ran towards a cell and closed the door.

“HA! Suckers!!” I yelled at them as they piled in front of the door. I dropped my bow and knife and just leaned against the wall trying to catch my breath again. While my breath and heartbeat was starting to get a steady pace again I picked up my knife and walked towards the door. Stabbing each in the head. One by one the bodies dropped in front of the door and I looked at the ground.

“Damn” I muttered to myself, there were 11 bodies on the ground. If Daryl knew what I did, he’d probably kill me, after he yelled at me for being stupid. I just hoped it was worth it and Axel and Glenn made it to the generators or the others. I shoved the door open and stepped over the walkers after I grabbed my bow too.

Now all I need was to get out of this hellhole! I was carefully walking through the halls; now that I wasn’t being chased I saw no reason to keep running. My knife was back in its holster and I had an arrow ready to fire. Walking alone through these halls felt creepy and I felt lost in a maze. The only sound I heard were my own footsteps and the sirens, but still I felt like I was not alone.

I froze on the spot when the sirens stopped, I sighed in relieve. I took a step, but froze again when I heard faint sounds of struggle coming from a distance. It definitely didn’t sound like just walkers. As I cautiously got closer to the sounds, I felt my heartbeat starting to go faster again.

Please be human..  
please.  
I turned a corner and saw one walker leaning over someone. I fired my arrow in its head and ran towards it and dragged it off of the body it fell on.  
“Carol!” I said in relieve.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I kneeled down next to her. She nodded while she was breathing heavy.  
“I lost my knife and sprained my ankle. You were just in time” she sighed and I placed my bow on my back.  
“Where is T?” I asked and she just shook her head with a sad look on her face.

Tears were burning my eyes, but I refused to let them fall since we were not safe yet. I gave her one of my knives and helped her get off the ground.  
“Let’s get out of here, before his friends show up” I said looking down at the rotting corpse. I supported Carol and had one knife in my hand just in case. Thankfully she knew the way to get outside.

 

As we walked in a slow pace we finally made it outside. I smiled feeling the sun on my skin again. In a distance I saw Hershel and Beth, talking to Rick, Glenn, Daryl, Oscar and Axel. Thank god they made it, but I still missed a few. Guess they didn’t find Maggie, Lori and Carl yet.

“What about T? Carol?” I heard Hershel ask. I guess they haven’t noticed us yet.  
“They didn’t make it” I heard Daryl say. Rick turned towards Daryl to say something.  
“Guess again” I just yelled.

Daryl turned towards me with anger, but his face softened as he saw who I was supporting. By the looks of it Glenn told him what I had done, well shit!

They walked towards us and I let Carol sit down on the bleachers.  
“I found her in the halls.” I simply said.  
“She’s okay, she just has a sprained ankle” I added and the boys nodded.

Hershel walked over with Beth in his tail.  
“Let’s have a look at that ankle” he said sitting down next to her.  
“We have to go back for the others. Daryl and Glenn, you come with..” Rick said, I looked at him wondering why he didn’t finish his sentence.

I followed his gaze just like the rest and saw Maggie and Carl walking out. I heard a baby’s cry and I saw Maggie’s arms covered in blood while holding the baby. I couldn’t describe the look on her face, but a feeling that something bad happened washed over my body.

Carl walked behind her looking numb. Maggie tried to talk, but she couldn’t find the right words. Rick walked towards her and his axe fell out of his hand. Maggie started crying and I felt a lump in my throat.  
“Where… where is she?” Rick asked while pacing side to side.

He walked towards the entrance of the prison only being stopped by a crying Maggie. His gun fell out of his hands next as he stood next to his son. He broke down crying and screaming. Glenn walked over to Maggie trying to console her. Carl walked over to the two, well three now. I took a few steps towards Rick

“Rick..” it was barely audible, I didn’t even know I could speak right now. I wanted to lay my hands on his shoulders, but before I could touch them his body fell to the ground. My body automatically wanted to catch him, but I failed miserably and I went down to the ground with him. My arms went around his shoulders while he was crying uncontrollably. I felt the first tears fall down my eyes too as the grown man lay in my arms grieving for his wife.

After I don’t know how long he slowly got up, leaning on one knee. His eyes and mouth were open and he just stared around him. I was still close to him, trying to get contact with the man. Daryl walked over and waved his hand in front of his face.  
“Rick, are you with me? Rick?” I heard him say, but my eyes were glued on Rick’s face hoping to see some sort of reaction.

Nothing, the look in his eyes felt cold, like he was here physically but mentally he was gone. Daryl walked away after Hershel called for the baby, I heard bits and pieces of the conversation the group had, but my mind was mainly busy with Rick.

My hands were on his shoulder trying to keep him balanced as his body felt wobbly. I saw Rick’s gaze focus on one point and I saw what he was looking at. Before I knew it, he pushed me back and because of how sudden it went I fell flat on my ass.

Rick walked over towards his axe and he marched inside the prison. I got back on my feet as quickly as I could to go after him when I felt a hand around my arm stopping me.  
“Let him be for a moment” I looked up and I nodded towards Daryl.  
“I want you to keep an eye on the inmates while I’m gone. Still don’t know if we can trust ‘em” I nodded once again.

He let me go and turned away from me. Before he could walk towards the vehicles, I grabbed one of his wrists.  
“Be careful” I said as he looked over his shoulder towards me and he nodded. I wanted to go with, but I just didn’t have the energy to argue with him right now. I sighed as I saw him and Maggie drove off, I just hoped they could find what we needed. I walked towards to group and my attention went to Oscar and Axel who just came back from closing the gate.  
“Let’s check the fences” I ordered and they walked with me.

 

It took us a while, but we managed to scatter the walkers so they wouldn’t be a threat any time soon. I killed a few in the process, just to relieve some off the anger that had built inside of me.  
“You’re a lot tougher than you look ma’am” Axel said as we walked back and I just chuckled.

“The perks of being bullied as a kid I guess. Forces you to be stronger than people think you are” I simply answered and I saw by the look he had that he didn’t knew what to say back. My eyes drifted towards the fields, in the distance I saw Glenn shoveling.  
“We will see if he need any help, why don’t you rest a bit” Axel said and before I could disagree the two men walked towards Glenn.

I kept my eyes on them from the distance, seeing Glenn talk to them. After what seemed to be a brief conversation Glenn walked towards the fence and the inmates started digging. I saw Glenn talking to Hershel, who was standing on the other side of the fence. I saw Glenn walk away after some time and I decided to walk over to Hershel. From that place I could still see the inmates.

“Where is Glenn going?” I asked as I stopped next to the man.  
“Trying to get Rick out” Hershel said and he looked at me.  
“I hope he has some luck” I muttered and stared towards the two man digging graves through the fence. I sighed, after all that happened today..

We gained a member of the group, but we also lost two today..  
“I just wish we could have enjoyed the good days we’ve been having. It’s like every time something good happens, faith just spits in our face and ruins it” I took a hold of the fence and kept my gaze on the field.  
“Right now all I can think of is if the baby is going to make it… and if Rick can get through this. For the sake of his two children” I felt a hand on my shoulder.  
“We’re all going to get through this” I closed my eyes for a second before looking towards Hershel.  
“But what if we won’t” I took a few steps away from Hershel.

“How much more can we take?” I asked before turning around and walking towards the prison. I just needed to keep myself busy for now and babysitting two grown man wasn’t going to cut it. I walked inside our cellblock and saw the walker bodies still lying on the ground.

 

I was back inside ready to drag body number five outside when I saw Glenn with a defeated look enter the room.  
“No luck huh?” I said, sweat dripping all over my body. He shook his head and after seeing what I was doing, he decided to help me.  
After we cleared out our cellblock, we went towards the main gate. Axel and Andrew were standing at the gate keeping an eye on the walkers, making sure there weren’t too many piling up. I was in the guard tower with Glenn, looking out waiting for Daryl and Maggie to return. I sat on the platform with my legs over the edge and with my head resting on my arms on the bottom ledge that was surrounding the guard tower.

Glenn stood next to me leaning on the top ledge, we both looked towards the direction our loved ones should be coming from. As the sky grew darker my worries grew with them. I just hoped nothing happened with them and they would be back in time and unharmed.  
“So, you and Maggie seem to do pretty good lately” I said as I turned my head towards the Asian man next to me.

Glenn looked down for a moment, a smile growing on his face before he looked at me.  
“I guess we are yeah” he said and I couldn’t help but smile at the sweet expression on his face.  
“Aren’t you scared? Loving someone so much in a world like this?” I asked, mainly because I wanted to know if a relationship would even work in a fucked up world like this.

“I’m terrified everyday” Glenn bluntly answered.  
“But, that feeling of having someone close at the end of a shit day makes up for all the fears I’m faced with during the day. I feel like the luckiest man alive every moment I get to spend with her and every time I fight.. I fight for us both” my heart melted a bit as I listened to Glenn talk about Maggie like that.

“You really see a future with her in this world don’t you?” I asked, while deep inside wondering if a certain someone feels the same way about me. Glenn nodded while he looked back in front of him, still with a big smile plastered on his face.  
“I couldn’t imagine it with anyone else. Especially in a world like this, it gives hope”.

I looked back towards the road too, as thoughts ran through my head. After what happened today, I don’t know if I want to love someone, since they could as easily be gone the next moment. Yeah sure, in the old world you could also lose someone every moment, but right now the risk of losing someone is so much bigger. I know I can’t stop my feelings, but I don’t know if I could take it if I let all my walls down and surrender myself completely just to lose him after that.

 

Hours past and it was completely dark now. Glenn and I shared some small talk to pass time, but my mind was still occupied about everything that happened today. Suddenly I heard the roar of the motorcycle and I jumped up.  
“Guys they’re back!” Glenn yelled towards Axel and Oscar. While Glenn shot two walkers and the inmates were handling the ones at the fence, I ran down and felt so relieved as the two drove into the prison.

After the gate was locked we all ran back towards the prison, I stopped and looked as the two got of the bike. Maggie quickly embraced Glenn before she rushed inside with her back. Daryl and I shared a glance before he went after her.  
The four of us followed them right after. As I walked inside I saw Daryl taking the baby from the arms of her brother, I was the last to enter and I was stopped in my tracks as I looked at him. The little girl slowly stopped crying as Daryl held her and tried to calm her down. He had taken the bottle from Beth and started feeding the baby. While the baby started drinking, the smile that grew on his face was so pure.

Daryl asked about the baby having a name, but everything said after that was just blurred out in my head. All I could see was him, the way he held something so innocent and small. The smile on his face, hell even in his eyes. I haven’t seen this genuine happiness with this man and I just felt every last bit of walls, I had tried so hard to keep up all this time, crumble down like they were made of sand.  
A warm feeling washed over me and my head was spinning with all kinds of thoughts. I felt my heart accelerate and butterflies going crazy in my stomach.  
There was only one thing I was certain of now..  
I was hopelessly and head over heels in love with that man..  
And there was nothing I could do about it.

 

After some time a small part of the group got ready to go to bed, while Daryl, Glenn, Axel, Oscar, Maggie and even Carl went down the halls to see is everything was safe. I stayed behind with Hershel, Beth, Carol and the baby.

I was walking slowly through our cellblock with the baby in my arms, she had just woken up and I just finished giving her another bottle after I send Beth back to check on the others. I was rocking the girl, who was temporarily called ‘Little Ass Kicker’ by Daryl, in my arms while humming a slow song trying to get her back to sleep.

I had a smile on my face as I looked at the little wonder, forgetting all the horrible things for a moment.  
“I think you’ll be a beacon of hope for this group, little one” I said softly while caressing her cheek with my thumb.  
“Seeing everyone’s face when they look at you, especially a certain redneck that gave you a cool nickname” I chuckled softly and I sighed.

“How am I ever gonna tell what I feel for him, without scaring him” my smile slowly disappeared.  
“I have you to thank for this little dilemma you know, you made me see him in a whole different light today” I said while sitting down on a bench, while leaning my back against the table that was attached to it.

I kept rocking the little girl, while my legs rested for a bit, I saw a little yawn and it was heart melting.  
“You’re way too cute to blame” I said feeling slightly guilty for saying that it was her fault. Her eyes slowly closed after I started humming the slow song again. I pulled at the edges of the blanket she was wrapped up in, making sure she was covered enough. I yawned myself and I got up, ready to put the baby in her crib and then going back to bed myself.

As soon I reached the doors from the cell block I heard people screaming.  
“Everyone!! GET IN YOUR CELLS!!” I heard Daryl scream. I saw them coming and I knew I couldn’t reach a cell in time. I took a few steps back as I saw a swarm of walkers getting in after the guys and Maggie tried to keep them back.

The baby started to cry again and panic struck me. I ran over towards the other door, that lead towards the halls Rick went in trying to make sure it was locked. It wasn’t and to make matters worse I saw a group coming our way. Knowing I couldn’t do a thing, since I had taken off my weapons when I was getting ready for bed and I was holding a baby.  
In sheer panic I did the only thing I could do..  
I ran.

 

Once again I was running through the halls again, but I’ve never felt this vulnerable. I need to find a safe spot, I felt every door I came across in the halls, but every one of them was locked. I heard a few walkers behind me and I felt hope of us getting out alive slip away. My body was starting to give out, after everything I did today and fear spread in my mind.

I was getting out of balance and I was breathing heavily. While I kept pushing my body, for the sake of the baby, I tripped over my own damn feet and my body slammed against a door and I fell to the ground as the door opened. I started crawling inside the small space, while I tried to keep the baby in a position that I wasn’t harming her.

Her cries and screams rang in my ears. A scream of my own escaped my lips as I felt something grab my ankle. I turned on my back and kicked franticly at the walkers head. Tears of fear streamed down my face as I kept kicking and screaming. Thank god, I kicked the walker away from me and I swiftly closed the door. I pushed my legs against the door and my back against something that felt like shelves.

I breathed heavily and looked down at the little girl who was still crying.  
“Hush… little one…” my voice was trembling and every thud against the door, made my heart skip a beat.  
“Shh… we will be okay” my voice was shaky as I looked around and I saw we were in a small storage space..  
a very small storage space.

I looked back at the girl as tears still ran down my cheeks.  
“They will find us” I said while rocking the girl, hoping I would get her to calm down. I feared that the rest of the walkers, that roamed the halls, would hear her and I didn’t know how long my legs would hold if more where piling up trying to get to us.

I looked around again hoping I could find something I could use as a weapon, but all I saw where walls coming towards me. My heart rate, that was starting to calm down, was now going faster and faster as I felt it became difficult to breath. I closed my eyes, hoping the feeling would go away, but it got worse by the minute.

“Please find us” I mumbled. My body trembled as I used the last strength I had to keep the door closed with my legs. I looked down and stroked the girls cheek as I was crying just like her.  
“I will protect you no matter what it takes” I promised her as fear was growing in me and I felt like I was slowly suffocating.

“You.. will.. not.. be… harmed” I stuttered as I tried to breath.  
I held the small girl close to my own body as I rocked my body, still trying to calm her…  
But it was also an attempt to calm myself as I hoped we were going to be saved.


	22. Feeling Exposed

No one’s POV

As Oscar jammed the machete in a walkers’ skull, the block was completely silent, meaning all of them were dead. After all the walkers were killed, Beth, Hershel and Carol cautiously came out of their cells. While the rest was breathing heavily after the fight they just had.

“Everyone alright?” Glenn asked while he looked at everyone, and they all just nodded.  
“Where is Parker?” Daryl asked.  
“And little Ass Kicker?” he walked around checking every cell, all of them where empty.

“Where are they?!” he asked looking at the three that came out of the cells. They all looked at each other for a brief moment and Beth looked nervous to tell what she knew.  
“Last thing I saw she was feeding the baby on the other side” The whole group went in there, but of course Kayleigh was nowhere to be seen.

Axel and Oscar went outside to check if they were there. While Daryl, Glenn and Maggie hoped they wouldn’t find them between the walker corpses. As soon as the two inmates came back in, Daryl’s head shot back up.  
“They’re not outside, sir” Axel said with a sad look in his eyes.  
“Dammit” Daryl mumbled.  
“Okay, you two, clear this mess up and keep your eye out for them. Glenn, Maggie, come with me to search through the halls. The rest… keep your eyes open and handle things if needed” he yelled while running towards the hallway, his crossbow loaded and Maggie and Glenn close behind him.  
Oscar and Axel started to clear out the corpses, while the rest impatiently waited for good news. Hershel and Beth sat close to each other on a bench leaning on the table with worried looks on their faces. Carl and Carol both had guns in their hands and were pacing back and forth hoping there wouldn’t be any more surprises.

After time passed and Axel and Oscar were done dragging all the 21 corpses outside, everyone sat down keeping their weapons close while trying to eat something.  
Some had trouble eating, filled with worry about Kayleigh and the baby…  
Haunted by the memories of the last 24 hours..  
And Rick being gone for this long now wasn’t helping either.

The whole group looked up in hope when they heard a voice speak…  
Rick’s voice  
“Everybody okay?” no one really knew how the tell him that his newborn daughter was missing. The heavy cell door creaked as their, now cleaned up from head to toe, leader stepped in.

“How are you doing?” Hershel carefully asked, to feel out how he could bring up the news about his baby.  
“I cleared out the boiler block” he said while walking over towards his son.  
“How many were there?” Oscar asked.  
“I don’t know.. A dozen? Two dozen?” he was quiet for a moment.

“I have to get back.. just wanted to check on Carl” Hershel shifted in his seat.  
“Rick, you don’t have to go back, we can handle taking out the bodies later” Rick shook his head.  
“No, I do” he said and wanted to walk away.

“Rick, we need to tell you something about your baby..” Rick stood still for a moment, his face still in an unreadable emotion.  
“A couple hours ago, we got overrun.. And Kayleigh and your child are missing” Rick frown slightly.  
“Daryl, Maggie and Glenn are looking for them as we speak” Rick just nodded.

“Everyone have a gun and a knife?” he asked. Hershel was a bit confused by his reaction.  
“Yeah, we’re running low on ammo, though.” He answered back. Rick just nodded and turned around and walked back out.

“Rick” Carol yelled after him, but it made no difference, Rick just walked away. They all looked at each other for a moment, not knowing what to do with the reaction Rick just gave about his missing daughter. Beth immediately went to Carl, checking to see how he’s doing. He already lost his mother yesterday and now there was no certainty about the fate of his little sister.

 

Meanwhile in the halls, Maggie, Glenn and Daryl were roaming around weapons ready. They’ve been walking around for a long time and hope started to slip away. Hope they still tried to keep up on finding Kayleigh and the newborn, hoping they were unharmed.

They already had killed a few stray walkers and checked them for clues on the faith of the two girls. Maybe it was for the better they hadn’t found anything, since that could be a sign for those two to be safe and sound.

They walked in a coordinated formation through the halls, Daryl leading and looking for signs or tracks. But it was hard leaving any tracks on a concrete floor covered with dried dirt and old blood stains. The trio was quiet, but focused. Maybe no one dared to speak, or they wouldn’t know what to say.

Maggie had the most trouble with that, since she knew about the sort of relationship Daryl and Kayleigh had..  
And the fact that the baby she delivered yesterday, that cost her someone she cared for, for a real long time. She didn’t know how she would go on, if they found them dead. Glenn just didn’t want to lose any more people of their group, seeing as they lost so many already. Daryl’s emotion were all over the place..  
He was mostly angry for the fact Kayleigh did something reckless once again..  
That woman was going to kill herself if she continued to do shit like this.  
But he was battling another emotion…  
Worry..  
Or better said fear..

He feared that they would lose two more today, a newborn with a life full ahead of her and another one who’s been part of this family for quite a while. The one person he cared for the most in the group, he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he knew it was true. He has been worried before for the group, but never did the fear of losing someone felt this big.  
The three of them turned a few corners, still no luck. It was getting more and more frustrating. Another corner came, but this time Daryl suddenly gave a stop sign to Maggie and Glenn. They both looked carefully around it and at least seven walkers were trying to get inside some room.  
“That must be Kayleigh and the baby, behind that door” Glenn said sounding hopeful, but still keeping his voice down so he wouldn’t attract the walking corpses in the hallway.  
“It would be better if we could draw them towards us, one by one” Maggie added. Daryl just nodded and looked around on the ground, before rummaging in his own pockets.

The couple looked a bit confused at the actions of the man in front of them. He had taken a few coins that he had in his pockets. He threw his crossbow on his shoulder and he threw one coin against the head of the walker closest to them.  
“In coming” he said turning back.

The three of them got ready and as soon as the walker saw them, growling louder and trying to grab them. Daryl grabbed the shoulders while Glenn immediately stabbed his knife in its head. Daryl slowly guided the limp body down to the ground, trying to make no noise.  
They did the same routine for the next four walkers, luring them and carefully killing them without alarming the others. They now saw that between the last two standing walkers there was another one, laying on the ground.  
The trio walked towards the last remaining, with Daryl walking ahead his crossbow pressed to his face while aiming at one of them. He shot the first standing in the head and the body fell with a thud over the laying one. The other standing one immediately turned towards them and Glenn ran towards him and swiftly put him down. Maggie went to the lying one, who was trying to get to her, but was blocked by the corpse on top of him. She plunged her knife in its head.  
They looked at the one lying on the ground for little bit, noticing the beaten up face. It was smashed, covered in dark blood and the rotting skin barely attached to his face. Daryl and Glenn dragged to two bodies away from the door, while Maggie kept her eyes open making sure there weren’t any new ones coming their way.

Daryl pushed the door softly, but it wouldn’t move. He pushed harder the second time and a soft scream was heard coming from the other side of the door as it moved a bit. After the scream, muffled cries which sounded like a baby were audible.  
While Maggie and Glenn kept watch, Daryl started knocking on the door.  
"Parker?!” he yelled, the cries sounded a little bit harder, but other than that there were no other sounds. He knocked harder and harder against the door, the door moved barely and there was still no other response.

Daryl kept yelling Kayleigh’s last name, hoping to get some response while giving more strength in each knock. Glenn and Maggie got a bit nervous, that after that scream there was no more response and of course hoped that the noise Daryl was making right now wasn’t going to attract stray walkers that may still be around.

“Kayleigh!?”He yelled last as he leaned against the door his breathing a bit out of control. He felt the force that was keeping the door closed slowly slip away. He pushed the door open and his eyes widened at what he saw.

Time seemed to stand still as he looked at the woman on the ground. She had pulled her legs up towards her body, her arms wrapped around what he guessed was the baby rolled up in her blanket. But what startled, maybe even scared him the most was her appearance.

Dried up sweat down her face, dry tears from her eyes all over her cheeks. Her eyes wide, mouth hanging open and her skin even paler than usual. The expression on her face was numb, like she was looking straight through you.

But after looking closer at her blue eyes, you saw that they were filled with fear and nothing else. The space she was in was very small and she had pushed herself all the way to the back. The room looked like a small storage room, since it was filled with shelves. Daryl didn’t pay attention to what was on the shelves and dove towards Kayleigh.

He placed a hand softly on her cheek, turning her head gently so she would look at him.  
“Are you two okay?” he asked in a soft, but concerned tone. Maggie had turned her attention inside the closet too, leaving Glenn standing on guard. She kneeled down behind Daryl, looking over his shoulder to the red headed woman that looked like she was in shock.

Kayleigh’s lips started to tremble trying to answer the question Daryl just asked her, but the words never left her lips, so eventually she just nodded. Daryl kept looking at her as he carefully tried to take the little girl out of her arms.

“I’m gonna take her from you okay?” he softly said, his eyes never leaving hers. The baby was still crying and Daryl gave her to Maggie. She immediately checked her for injuries while trying to calm her down. Daryl turned his attention towards Kayleigh, who hadn’t moved since they were in there.  
“Can you walk?” he asked and she nodded again. Daryl shoved his arm around her waist.  
“Let’s get you up then” he said before lifting her up from the ground. She grabbed him for support and tried to take a few steps. She was totally out of balance and Daryl was not letting her go.  
As they stepped out of the closet, they slowly started to make their way back to cell block C.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My eyes were glued to the little fragile girl that was in my arms while I rocked my upper body back and forth. I had completely lost track of time, not that it was easy to check in this world, but still I had no idea for how long we’ve been in this damn small closet.  
A few hours?  
Maybe even more than a day already?  
I just didn’t know, I felt weak, so freaking weak.

The growls that came from outside though, were motivation enough to keep my feet firm against the door and keeping the pressure on it. If the room was bigger, it would have been so much easier. Because right now I felt my lungs getting tighter and breathing was getting pretty hard to do right now.

I still felt tears streaming down my cheeks and thanks to the panic taking over my body the room was heating up, I was starting to sweat. As if I didn’t feel horrible enough, after everything we’ve been through and being locked in.

The baby’s cries started ringing my ears, god…  
Please let someone come soon.  
Trying to occupy my mind from this dreadful situation, I started humming a song my Grandma used to sing when I was having nightmares. With my still trembling voice I softly started to sing the words she always sang to me.  
“Sleep my little girl..  
Don’t be afraid..  
Listen to my voice..  
Hold onto me tight..  
I’m always by your side..  
Never let go of hope..”  
I kept repeating the same words over and over again, not realizing just quite yet that my voice was getting softer by the moment. My body kept trembling, but my mind slowly started to shut off every sound around me. The last I heard where the faint sounds of the crying girl as I held her close to my chest. My mind went completely numb and nothing felt real anymore.  
I don’t know if it was my mind that was playing with me, but the pressure on the other side of the door started to disappear after god knows how long. Suddenly there was more force trying at the door and a soft scream left my lips as I was startled by the sudden change.  
The door had moved a bit and I was determined to keep the baby and myself safe from any harm. Sounds slowly started to come back to my mind as I heard the cries first. I also thought I heard someone call my last name and that voice sounded so damn familiar.

Was it Daryl? Or was it my mind playing tricks on me making me believe the growls outside turned to a familiar voice so I would just give in to the signs that my body was reaching its limit. There it was again and again and again, while the force was getting stronger and stronger.

Suddenly I was pulled out of my trance like state, when I heard that familiar voice say something he never said before, which made me realize this was real. I slowly pulled my legs up towards my body after hearing my first name. The door opened and a wave of relief washed over me as I saw Daryl in front of me. He found us…  
I felt his warm hand on my cheek and let him guide my head so I was facing his.  
“Are you two okay?” I heard in his low husky voice and I tried to tell them we were unharmed. My throat felt dry and I couldn’t get the words to leave my lips. So I closed them again and just nodded. His arms slowly went to mine

“I’m gonna take her from you okay?” and I nodded as I let Daryl take the girl from my arms. I felt one of his arms around my waist after he asked me if I could walk. I just nodded, not exactly sure if my legs would move.  
“Let’s get you up then” he said as he assisted me to get off of the cold ground.

My legs felt like jelly, but I just ignored it and started to make a few steps. Daryl’s arm clutched tighter around my waist as my legs started to give in. As soon as we were out of the closet I saw Glenn and Maggie and I tried to smile to them, but I wasn’t sure if my face was doing what I want.

As we walked for a little while in a slow pace I felt the fear leaving my body replaced by a feeling of safety being back in the arms of the man I loved. My head felt lighter and my legs where shaking like crazy.  
“Come on” Daryl said as he lifted me of the ground. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my head against his shoulder.  
“Thanks” barely audible, but Daryl heard me as he nodded and they picked up the pace again.

 

I didn’t know how long it took for us to get back to the cellblock and I was sat down on one of the benches. A bottle of water at my lips in no time and I savored every bit of liquid that went down my throat. I saw that Hershel was checking the baby, before giving her to his youngest daughter who stood ready with a bottle in her hands.

“How is she?” I asked while I tried to push myself up only to be pushed back by Daryl as Hershel came my way.  
“She’s going to be fine, now how are you doing?” he asked as he sat next to me, starting to check my vital functions.

“I’m fine, just tired I guess” not wanting to admit the horror I felt while being locked in that closet.  
“Ya don’t look to damn fine” Daryl noted and Maggie stood in front of me kneeling down so we were on the same level.  
“What happened to you two?” I looked at the female in front of me not wanting to admit my fear.

“The cellblock ran over and since I had no weapons and didn’t saw another way… I just ran and locked us up in the closet.” I looked down and saw one of my shoes covered in thick dark blood. My body shook again feeling like I was going back in that closet. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked to my left towards Hershel. He looked at me with a soft expression.

“Kayleigh, are you claustrophobic?” he asked gently and I felt tears burning my eyes again and I softly nodded.  
“I don’t want to seem weak so I never tell” I said feeling ashamed of my fear being exposed like this.  
“It’s okay, it doesn’t make you weak. Despite of your fear.. You still managed to keep that little girl safe” Maggie said while laying her hands on my knees.

I just nodded and tried to smile, while wiping away the last tears I hoped I shed today.  
“Here, I’m betting you must be pretty hungry ma’am” Axel came towards me with a bowl of something edible, not really sure what it was and I didn’t really care as I started eating it.

“Thanks” I said smiling to him while my mouth was stuffed. While I ate my food, Maggie and Glenn started to get ready for their run they planned last night they would go on today. Neither Hershel or Daryl left my side keeping their eyes glued on me, making sure I was okay. After I finished the food, Hershel took the bowl out of my hands.

“Now rest, you deserved it” he said with a gentle smile and I got up. Immediately losing my balance and I felt Daryl’s hands on my back keeping me in place.  
“Careful now” he said while he guided me towards the cells.

“Take my bed” he ordered more than suggesting it. I walked up the stairs, him following close behind making sure that I didn’t fall, probably. I sat down on his matrass and started undoing my combat boots, trying to ignore the blood smeared on one of them.

“Well it does makes sense now” he said out of nowhere sitting on the top step of the stairs with his back turned towards me. I looked at him confused as he looked towards me over his shoulder.  
“You sleeping on the concrete floor on the first night” he said grinning like a child. I stuck my tongue out towards him and took of my shoes.

“But that doesn’t explain why you had no trouble sleeping the other night” he said his grin turning in a confused look. I looked at my lap, feeling my cheeks heat up knowing the reason.  
“It was you” I softly said and I looked at him quickly seeing him only more confused.

I sighed as I felt more embarrassed that I had to explain the thing.  
“You made me feel safe, you can make me forget where I am” I said fumbling with the hem of the sheets. I looked up at him, not sure what his expression was.

I saw a proud grin, but also a slight blush and a soft smile?  
He looked away quickly.  
“You should rest” he said before walking away. I laid down on the bed and pulled the sheets over my body. Curling up on my side it didn’t took me long to fall asleep.

 

I shot up from the bed, my breath shallow as the gunfire outside had woken me up. I looked around and saw that the cellblock was empty. I pulled my shoes one and ran down the stairs. Down the hallway I heard voices inside yelling.

I jumped the last few steps and went in, seeing Rick crouched down next to a woman. This was the first time I saw him after he ran away. He held her back as she tried to grab her sword and told her we weren’t going to hurt her unless she did something stupid.

“Rick” I heard behind me and Daryl stood there.  
“Who the hell is this?” He asked and I looked back towards Rick.  
“You wanna tell us your name?” he asked looking at the woman.

Rick repeated the question one more time, but she kept her mouth shut. Rick got up  
“Carl, get the bag” he said while taking a few steps back picking up the sword.  
“We’ll keep this safe and sound. The doors are all locked. You’ll be safe here and we can threat that” he said while the rest of the group walked passed me and Daryl back in the cellblock.

“I didn’t ask for your help” she spat like venom.  
“Doesn’t matter..” Rick said before softly pushing me back in the cellblock.  
“Can’t let you leave” Rick finished as he locked the door. Rick turned towards me and I looked at the man.

“How are you doing?” he asked.  
“I could ask the same to you Sheriff” I said with a smile and he chuckled placing his hand on my shoulder. I looked back at the woman lying on the ground.

“We need to help her” I said before looking back at Rick.  
“We don’t know her” he said back.  
“You didn’t knew me when I was brought in hurt” I said and he sighed.

“It was different with you, Daryl knew you” I crossed my arms.  
“Fine, I know her.. I’ve seen her before.. I just can’t remember her name” Rick took his hand of my shoulder and shook his head.

“We can’t keep taking risks. Remember Thomas and Andrew?” he whispered towards me sternly.  
“Andrew was our responsibility. We let him walk, that’s our fault. I’ll take responsibility for her.” I said back. Rick sighed and opened the door again. Rick, Daryl, Hershel and I went back to the girl who now sat on one of the benches.

“We can tend to that wound for you, give you a little food and water and then send you on your way” Rick said as we walked towards her.  
“But you’re gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula.” She looked towards Rick while pressing a cloth to her leg.

“The supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy.. With a pretty girl” she answered.  
“What happened?” Rick asked followed by Hershel  
“Were they attacked?” sounding worried.

It had to be Maggie and Glenn that she was talking about, what were the changes another Asian guy and a girl were on a run for formula in this area in this shit world.  
“They were taken” she said back, still sounding angry.

“Taken? By who?” Rick asked while the woman looked away.  
“By the same son of a bitch who shot me” Rick took a step closer towards her.  
“Hey, these are our people. You tell us what happened now!” he said before grabbing her wound, which made her jump from her seat.

“Don’t you ever touch me again!” she yelled back and Daryl raised his crossbow towards her.  
“You’d better start talking!” Rick yelled.  
“Or you’re gonna have a much bigger problem than a gunshot wound” Daryl added and I stepped in between the two men.  
“Find ‘em yourself”

I placed my hand on Daryl’s bow and softly pushed it down shaking my head towards him.  
“You came here for a reason” I said softly while looking at the woman. She kept quiet for a moment before she sighed.  
“There’s a town. Woodbury.. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there.” Rick took a step closer.

“A whole town?” he asked.  
“It’s run by this guy who calls himself the Governor” she said that like he was some kind of poison.  
“Pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type” she finished.

“He got muscle?” Daryl asked.  
“Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall.” I took a small step forward.  
“You know a way in?” I asked.

“The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through” Rick looked as us for a second before turning his attention back to the woman.  
“How’d you know how to get here?” he asked.  
“They mentioned a prison, said which direction it was in, that it was a straight shot” she answered. Rick pointed towards Hershel  
“This is Hershel, the father of the girl who was taken. He’ll take care of that” he said before pointing towards her wound. He signed Daryl and me to follow him back.

Back at the cells he sent Carl towards Hershel to keep an eye on the woman while Hershel fixed her leg. I thought it was a terrible idea, sending his own son out for that job, but I also wanted to be a part of the discussion that was going to happen next.

“How do you know we can trust her?” Oscar asked.  
“This is Maggie and Glenn. Why are we even debating?” Beth asked.  
“We ain’t” Daryl added.  
“I’ll go after them” he added.

“Well, this place sounds pretty secure” I said.  
“You can’t go alone” Rick added. And after that more people volunteered to go with him, including me. I was done resting, I wanted to get our family back.

I stood in my cell taking of the shorts, I’ve been wearing for way too long, after kicking out my boots and grabbing a black pair of jeans out of my bag. I heard footsteps behind me, stopping suddenly while I pulled my jeans over my butt.

“Like the view?” I asked while looking over my shoulder towards Daryl who stood there grinning before taking a few steps towards me. I looked back down at my bag grabbing a dark blue tank top out of it after I took of my sports top leaving me standing in my bra while I felt Daryl’s hand around my waist.

I giggled softly as I felt his beard tickle my neck when he laid his head on my shoulders. I placed my hand on top of his while the other still held the top.  
“We need to get ready” I said.  
“I do, you don’t” he said softly and I pushed myself out of his arms turning around.

“Excuse me?” I said confused and a bit angry.  
“You’re not coming” he said.  
“Watch me” I said angry before putting on my top and started to gather my weapons.

He grabbed both my wrists.  
“Hell no! Not after everything you’ve been through yesterday and this morning” he said sternly and he tightened the grip making me drop my knives.

“I’m fine!” I yelled back, he turned me around and held my hands in one hand while the other grabbed my jaw forcing me to look at him.  
“You’re not coming” he ordered and I just scuffed.  
“Give me a real reason” I demanded.

“Remember on the farm, the day you came running towards me because you wanted me to teach you” he said with a grin on his face, while I nodded.  
“You owe me.. So you stay put” he said before letting me go, turning around and leaving me sighing.

I felt defeated, knowing I couldn’t change anything about it and I had to listen. I grabbed his sleeve, making him turn back towards me. I threw myself at him crashing my lips on his while wrapping my arms around his neck. His arm quickly wrapped around my waist as he eagerly kissed me back.

After a moment I pulled back and looked him in the eyes.  
“Be careful out there… Jackass” I said with a grin, earning a grin from him before he let me go and left my cell.

“Because I love you… you idiot”


	23. Alone

Rick, Oscar, Daryl and the unknown woman had left to go and rescue Maggie and Glenn. I still was a bit mad about the fact Daryl didn’t want me to come.  
The afternoon went by slow and I mostly kept my distance from the group not feeling quite chatty today.

After our small dinner I decided to keep myself occupied, I needed to do something. With my knives strapped on my legs and a fire iron I took from our weapon bag I went outside. I initially went outside to do a perimeter check, but in the meanwhile I started killing walkers that were piling up. It felt pretty satisfying to do that, plus Daryl couldn’t be mad if I killed them from behind a fence right?

I had no idea for how long I was out, but I noticed it was dark when I walked back towards the prison. I waved towards Axel and Carol who were up in the guard tower. They looked kinda cute together up there, I guess. Not sure if the only reason I thought that was because I felt a bit of jealousy whenever I saw her an Daryl together.

Which made me a bit angry with myself, because I was never the jealous type actually. But hey.. Daryl wasn’t a guy I was usually into. He brought out emotions and thoughts that I mostly hate in other girls. I shook my head, trying to get rid of these silly thoughts.  
Daryl cared about me..  
Right?

I sighed hating my own damn mind sometimes. I walked in our block and saw that the door to the cells where closed. Behind them stood Beth with a worried look on her face.  
“Beth, what’s going on?” I asked while walking up towards her.

“Carl has gone to the tombs, we heard a scream coming from there” I looked at her, not believing what she just said.  
“WHAT?!” she was a bit startled by my reaction.  
“He went in there alone?! Why didn’t you call for me?” I said opening the door walking straight to my cell to get my bow, I was going after that kid.

“I’m sorry” Beth said close behind me.  
“My dad tried to stop him” I turned around to see Hershel had joined his daughter at the door of my cell.  
“You know the kid, he is as stubborn as his dad. He was in there before we even could do anything about it” I sighed.

“Well, I’m going after him.” Hershel looked at me with concern.  
“I’ve rested enough, I can handle it” I said reassuring knowing what he was thinking of. That’s when I heard a door creak and multiple footsteps and voicing coming in. I pushed myself pass Beth and Hershel walking straight toward the sounds.

I stood at the door and saw 5 people, one of them lay on the floor with two on one knee next to her and the other two stood a foot or so away from them.  
“I’ll take care of it” I heard Carl say aiming his gun at the woman’s head that was on the ground. I was shocked of how calm that little kid was about just shooting someone in the head, okay the person was dead already, but still..  
He shouldn’t be so cool with this.

Before I knew it Carl was next to me locking the door and the woman in their group came up to us.  
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked and one of the man stood next to her.  
“Kid, did you just lock us in here?” he asked.  
“Open the door” she said immediately after.

“This room is secure. You have food and water” Carl calmly said, damn he sounded a lot like his dad.  
“Open this door” the woman said coming closer towards us.  
“I can’t” Carl simply answered. She was mainly focusing on Carl, not noticing me or Beth standing next to the kid.

“Come on man. We’re not animals. Don’t do this.” That’s when she looked at me, Beth and behind us, probably at Hershel.  
“Hey! You can’t just leave us in here! Open this door! Open it! Now!” as soon as she started pulling the door in anger I lifted my bow aiming at her, as a warning.  
The man quickly stood next to her calming her down, telling her that she needed to let it go and look around. Saying this was the best they had in weeks. He turned towards us and I lowered my bow again.  
“We don’t want any trouble” he said and he guided the woman out of our sight, probably back to the dead one on the ground.

“Shouldn’t we help them?” Beth asked.  
“I did” Carl coldly said. Beth walked away and I turned my attention towards Carl.  
“Are you out of your damn mind?” I asked sternly and he looked at me.  
“You’re not going out on your own like that!” I said in the same stern voice.

“Why not! If the others don’t come back, I have to take responsibility” he answered getting a bit mad at me for telling him what to do.  
“No, you don’t” I said and he wanted to say something but I didn’t gave him a change.  
“The others are coming back! And if for some reason they won’t, which is not going to happen. I still will be here, Axel will still be here and even Carol. You don’t need to do these things, because we will handle them” I said and he scoffed and just walked away from me directly towards his cell.

I sighed, maybe I didn’t need to act like his mother. Maybe I should have handled him like an equal, but I just couldn’t do that. He was just a kid for Christ sake! I know he had done more things than any other kid his age I know, but he shouldn’t have to if there were adults around to do that shit.

I walked towards the stairs that were leading to the perch. Now that Daryl wasn’t here to sleep there, I was taking his place. I saw Hershel coming up to me and I stopped on the bottom steps.  
“Not easy dealing with kids huh” he said calmly and I sighed.  
“I may have overreacted, but I still stand behind my case. He shouldn’t have to do those things, I know the world’s changed, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a kid.” I closed my eyes, looking in front of me. I felt a hand covering mine that was on the railing of the stairs.  
“He will understand that you were just worried about him. Just give it time” I smiled at the man.

“Thanks. Good night” I said smiling.  
“Good night” he said before going back to his cell he shared with Beth. I walked up to the perch and sat down on the bed. I took my shoes off, but didn’t lie down. I sat with my back against the wall, I wasn’t feeling tired enough to sleep since I slept the whole morning. I heard the four strangers talk softly, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

One thought that came in to my head was..  
What would Rick think about them?  
Since he wasn’t very pleased with the prisoners in the first place..  
And the woman this morning.  
I let different thoughts and scenario’s run through my head, not realizing my eyes slowly closing. I guess I was tired..  
Was my last thought before I dozed off while still sitting against the wall.

 

 

The next morning everything went by in a daze for me, my head was somewhere else. After I had fallen asleep I was being terrorized with dark dreams. Reliving the hours I had spent with baby Judith in the closet, I was glad though that the baby finally had a real name. There was also another weird ass dark dream..

I kept running through the woods, tears streaming down my face..  
Yelling a name, I couldn’t understand what I was screaming only that it was a name and I felt lost, alone and abandoned.

I was in my own thoughts throughout the first part of this morning. I sat on the floor against the wall looking at Hershel stitching one of the strangers up and Axel making some kind of noodle breakfast for all of us. Carl stood next to me, also keeping his distance from the group and from me. I couldn’t blame him, I acted like a really bitchy mom yesterday and I should have just talked to him as a friend.

I didn’t follow the conversation they had, I just looked at all of them one by one. By now we all learned their names, Sasha and Tyreese, who were brother and sister and you had Allen and Ben, father and son. The woman that died last night was Donna, Ben’s mother. I felt a bit bad for the kid, losing his mother this way.

Sasha seemed pretty nice, even after her outburst last night, but hey she just didn’t understand what was going on. I’ve been angry a couple a times too in the group so it was only human. Tyreese was your typical good guy, being polite and making sure everyone was okay. Ben was grieving of course and mostly kept to himself, so I didn’t really know what to think of him yet. Then there was his father Allen and I wasn’t sure what to think about him either.

Maybe it was that he was still grieving because he lost his wife, but I just didn’t know if he could be trusted yet. Beth was walking through the room with Judith in her arms getting a bottle for the little girl. I heard them talking about the baby, Sasha telling that they didn’t except seeing a baby again in this world.

The feeling in the room felt awkward when she assumed Beth was the mother and they asked about where her real mother was. I stood up as Beth went back to the cells, I kept listening to the story Sasha and Tyreese told about what they’ve been through. After Axel gave out the last bowls of breakfast to the four he walked back towards the cells with our share.

I followed him and heard the last thing Hershel said to the group.  
“Tyreese, like I said, we have a much larger group. A close-knit group.. I wouldn’t get too comfortable here.” I looked over my shoulder and saw Hershel walk towards us.  
“We wouldn’t be a problem” I heard Tyreese response.

“It’s not up to me” Hershel answered before walking through the door.  
“Then who?” I heard Tyreese ask, but Hershel didn’t response.  
“Please, you can see what kind of people we are” I heard him say and it made me think about what Rick would do if he came back and saw four more strangers in the prison. We ate our breakfast in silence, Carl had gone outside to give Carol some food and stayed there. Both on watch for the rest of our group to come back.

I stood on a caged bridge that was between the blocks. Staying out of sight of the group that were going to bury their loved one. I didn’t know if it were needed to keep an eye on them, but I did it anyway since right now there wasn’t anything else to do at the moment.  
After they had put the body on the ground to take a breather, I noticed them starting to argue. I hated that I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were talking about. They seemed to calm down a bit as soon as Beth and Axel came walking over with tools so they could dig a grave. Sasha and Tyreese immediately jumped in front of the other two taking the tools.

There was something strange going on there and I was really curious what was going on. After Sasha and Tyreese stared at Allen and Ben for a moment they went to bury the body. I couldn’t see them anymore, but I still decided to stay here. It was quiet and peaceful. Plus I could see if the others were coming back. I sat down and looked over the property; after our family was complete again maybe we can finally do the things we had planned for this place.

 

As time passed by, I still sat in my place, but jumped up as soon as I heard a car. I ran through the prison, completely ignoring the four that sat inside. As soon as I got outside, Hershel stood there his daughter safely in his arms and I couldn’t help but smile. I saw Glenn in the car and I was startled by how he looked.

He looked like shit! I also saw the woman. In the distance I saw Carl, Carol and Rick walking up, but where were Daryl and Oscar. I stood there in silence, as Hershel and Beth brought Maggie back inside the prison. Glenn and the other woman went in after that, both not looking at me. I was wondering what the hell happened and someone needed to tell right now.

I took a few steps towards Rick, Carl and Carol and immediately saw Carol’s wet eyes.  
“Rick, Where are Oscar and Daryl?” I asked as soon as they saw me.  
“Oscar didn’t make it” Rick said in a sad voice, but that’s all he said.  
“And Daryl?!” I asked impatient.

He looked towards Carol and his son and they got the message and also went inside.  
“Rick” I said stepping closer as the man still didn’t say a thing.  
“Did he make it?” I asked while I felt worry wash over me, almost chocking me.  
“Kayleigh.. He..” he struggled the get the words out.

“Rick! Tell me what happened! Is he dead!?!” I started screaming, I needed answers and I needed them now! I felt tears filling my eyes, fearing that he didn’t make it. Rick looked to the ground, his hands on his belt.  
“He’s not dead” he said softly before looking at me.

“THEN WHERE IS HE RICK?!” I yelled stepping closer, our bodies only inches apart.  
“We found his brother Merle at Woodbury.. He left with him..” he said and my mind just went blank. So he was alive..  
But he left?

It felt like the air was hit out of my lungs and I looked to the ground.  
“I’m sorry Kayleigh. We tried to convince..” he started talking but I interrupted him when he laid his hand on my shoulder. I pushed his hand away, as I felt my body start to tremble.  
“Don’t..” I said as I took a step back.

“He just left?” I said biting my lip, feeling angry and devastated at the same time. Rick nodded and stepped towards me.  
“I’m so sorry” he said wanting to console me, but I didn’t want that. I stepped away from him.  
“You don’t have to be.. you came back” I said as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and push the tears back.

Rick wanted to say something again, but I was thankful for whoever walked up to us. It was Hershel walking up to us and I just stepped back letting the two men talk. Hershel gave Rick a hand and smiled at him.  
“You came through, like always. Sounds like we have a new problem on our hands.” Rick nodded and agreed.

“You get a good look at him?” Hershel asked next.  
“He had Daryl and Merle pitted against each other. A crowd cheering for them to fight to the death. What kind of sick mind does that?” I was still trying to process the fact that Daryl left, but hearing that he had to fight against his own brother made my mind toll again.

“The kind this world creates.” I tuned out the rest of the conversation and after they finished I just walked behind them back inside. I noticed that Rick just walked past the four new people in the prison, without saying a word, but right now..  
I couldn’t care for anything really.

I just followed the two men and Carl closed the door behind us. I walked straight up towards my cell, grabbing the fire iron I left there last night. I walked back and after Rick gave his daughter back to Beth, he came towards me.  
“Kayleigh, what are you going?” he asked while I kept walking towards the door.

“Don’t worry Rick. I’m not that stupid to go after him. After all, he left us.. me.. must mean he doesn’t want to be followed by either of us” I said without looking at him.  
“I just need some air” I spoke in the same cold tone I had been keeping since I was in here. He looked at me a bit unsure, I kept my face in a straight line.

“I promise.. I just need to be alone that’s all” he nodded and opened the door for me and gave me the set of keys. I directly went to the door, once again completely ignoring the four people standing in the room. I was outside and took a deep breath of the air, I looked around and my eyes landed on the vehicles.

His bike just stood there and it was like he was sitting there. Then I felt a sharp pain in my chest and tears coming back. I started walking through the gate I had just opened onto the field. My breath was getting more shallow with every step I took, tears were starting to roll down my eyes.

Quickening my pace, I went towards a guard tower not wanting to be seen like this. At the end I was running and as soon as I stepped in, I dropped the fire iron and slammed the door behind me. I was crying uncontrollably by now and I wrapped my arms around my upper body hoping it would ease the pain.

I let myself collapse on the floor, screaming and sobbing like a little child. How could he just leave like that?  
Did I meant so little to him, that he would just go without saying anything or asking me to come with?  
Did that mean that everything we shared over the last couple months meant nothing to him?

Couldn’t he see how much he was to me?  
The pain in my chest became worse and worse. It felt like I was breathing water and drowning on the inside.  
How could he do this to us?  
To me?

I was crawled up on my side, the grip on my own body as tight as I could.  
Screaming one more time, feeling like I lost everything I had.  
The dream I had last night came back to my thoughts, now understanding which name I was yelling while running in the woods. My mind had tried to warn me, but I just didn’t understand what it meant.

 

Time had passed and I had crawled back up. I was now sitting with my back against the cold wall, legs flat on the ground and my arms limp next to my body. I couldn’t cry anymore, the tears were dried and all I felt was numbness.  
I just stared in front of me, my breath steady and calm now. In front of me on the concrete floor there was a spot that was wet. It was were my head was when I broke down, I looked at it slowly seeing it dry up.  
Slowly a new emotion took over, anger. I slapped myself in the face.  
“Come on Kayleigh!” as I shook my head.  
“Don’t be that sad little girl that cries for a guy!” not yet feeling what I said.

“You once laughed, when a guy broke up with you remember? And you knew him for nearly 2 years” I scoffed.  
“And now you’re all pathetic and broken down because of someone who didn’t even want to be close to you in front of others?!” I pushed myself up from the ground, grabbing the fire iron on the way up.

“A guy like that doesn’t deserve your tears”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys!! 
> 
> I just wanted to let you know that It really makes me happy to see more and more people reading this story.   
> Thank you for all the kudo's, bookmarks, comments and hits!   
> I hope you all liked this week chapter!


	24. All Hell Breaks Loose

When I stepped out of the guard tower I noticed it was early in the morning.  
‘Damn I was in there for a long time…’  
I thought to myself as I walked back to the prison.  
My throat was dry and I wanted to drink something before doing what I planned.

I planted the fire iron in the grass just outside the gate, seeing as I needed it later. I entered the prison and saw that most people were already up.  
I didn’t see Rick though…  
Or Tyreese, Sasha, Allen and Ben.

People looked at me, but it seemed nobody seemed to dare say something. I must look horrible by the way they stared at me.  
“Good to see you Kayleigh” Hershel said in his gentle voice, I just nodded while walking over to our makeshift kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water.

I took a few big gulps, before placing the bottle back and walking over towards the cells. I walked up the stairs gathering the last of the stuff Daryl had left behind and with that in my arms I went back down towards the door ready to go back outside.

“What are you doing with that?” I heard Carol ask.  
“Throwing them out” I said in a monotone voice, not looking back as I barged back outside. After throwing Daryl’s stuff in some dirty corner I grabbed the fire iron out of the grass and went back to the fences to blow off some steam.

 

While stabbing walker after walker, making them drop to the ground on the other side of the fence, I saw through the corner of my eyes that Glenn left in one of the cars. I was a bit curious what he was going to do. I got distracted though, when in the distance I saw Rick outside of the fence and Hershel talking to him from the other side.

I sighed, maybe I was being selfish at this moment. The group had troubles going on and I just thought of myself. After killing one last walker I decided to go back. I walked over the field, I saw Michonne? I think that’s what I heard her name was if I overheard it correctly this morning.

I looked in front of me and saw Carol and Axel standing next to each other, a couple feet away were Beth and Carl. I froze to the spot when I saw Axel fall down in sync with the sound of a gunshot. After that more shots were fired and before I had the change to find cover I felt a pain on my right thigh.

I fell to the ground and looked at my leg, seeing the bullet just scraped me, but it was bleeding like crazy.  
“Fuck!” I cursed as the wound burnt like hell. Thankfully for the long grass I was laying in, so I was out of sight for the rest of the bullet rain.

I grabbed my knife and struggled as I tried to cut a piece of my top so I could try and stop the bleeding. While cutting the fabric I felt that my knife touched the skin of my stomach.  
Sure… like the bullet wound wasn’t enough.

Carefully I tried to look and I saw that the bleeding on my stomach wasn’t that bad, it was just a small cut. I put my knife back in its holster and I dragged myself towards the prisoner transport vehicle that was just a few feet away from me and Michonne was hiding there too. It was a bit difficult to drag my body while having the fire iron in my hand and the piece of fabric in my mouth.

Out of breath and feeling my arms slightly burn I reached my goal.  
“Are you hurt?” Michonne directly asked as she helped me sit up against the vehicle.  
“It just grazed me” I said as I tied the fabric around my thigh.  
“Focus on shooting those bastards.. I’ll be fine” I said reassuring and she nodded before starting to shoot back at, which I guessed where the Woodbury people.

The firing had stopped and that made me nervous. Slowly I pushed myself up and looked carefully around the corner of the truck to see what was going on. My mouth fell open as I saw a van drive straight through both fences and barely missed Michonne and me. The van stopped and just stood on the field for what felt like forever. Suddenly the weird back of the van dropped and walkers flooded out of the van.

The driver had stepped out and Michonne pulled me away while the driver started shooting at us. We kept out of sight while that driver kept firing. I heard Rick yell from a distance, and my eyes went that way seeing all the walkers go towards Hershel.  
“We need to help him!” I said to Michonne and she nodded.

As soon as the bullet rain stopped Michonne and I ran in the direction of Hershel. She taking out her sword and me ready to attack with the fire iron and a knife. As we killed every walker in our way, a car drove past us. It was Glenn and he drove straight towards Hershel.  
Thanks to the adrenaline boost I had, I didn’t feel the pain on my leg and I kept running. After the car stopped, Glenn got out and helped Hershel get in with help from Michonne, I got in too. We were just in time and Glenn sped out. In the corner of my eye I saw Rick got help from two familiar men. I got out of the car as soon as were we safe behind the gates.

The rest of the group came towards us asking us if we were okay.  
“I’m fine” I smiled ignoring the stare from Michonne, who knew I had been hurt. I saw Axel laying on the floor, blood streaming out of every part of his body seeing all the bullet holes. I turned around and looked at the field, all the hard work we’ve put in this place is gone.

“Open the gate” I said as I got in the car.  
“I’m getting Rick and his saviors.” I continued and they opened up. I drove the car past the walkers and smoothly turned it towards the guys. I opened the window as I hit the brakes.  
“Cab’s here” I yelled and the three boys got in as quickly as they could.

Rick sat next to me and I was thankful for that. I looked backwards as I drove the car in reverse, avoiding eye contact with the Dixon brothers on the back seat. I tried to ignore the anger that was building up inside me, as I saw those two. A little part of me was happy to see him unharmed and back with us, but that part was pushed away slowly by the rage of how easy he left us…  
And me.

 

I jumped out of the car slamming the door behind me with force after I had driven it past the gate and I got the guys safe. I immediately walked away from the vehicle, knowing I would lose my temper if I stayed.  
“Parker!” I heard in a familiar voice and footsteps closing in.

I chose to ignore it, but sadly I couldn’t ignore his hand on my arm that stopped me. Turning around swiftly, I smacked Daryl in the face.  
"Don’t touch me!” I yelled angrily and shocked by my actions I felt his hand let go of my arm.  
“Oeh.. sounds like there’s trouble in paradise lil’ brother” I heard the voice of the obnoxious Merle Dixon.

“Shut up!!” I yelled at him.  
“Or I’ll make sure you wouldn’t have that one hand anymore!” I spat and I noticed the whole group staring. I started to turn around.  
“What the hell is your problem?” I heard Daryl say and that’s when all hell broke loose inside me.

“Excuse me?!” I say and I heard a small uh-oh coming from Merle.  
“What’s my problem you ask?” I said breathing heavy.  
“I don’t know Daryl.. Maybe the fact that you left?!” turning my body fully towards him and taking a step closer.  
“Maybe that you’re back acting like nothing happened!?” and I pushed him, seeing anger build up in his face.  
“Do you have any clue what you did to us? Making that choice simply like that?!” I pushed him back one more time.  
“And don’t even come to me with pathetic excuses that you had no choice, because he was your brother and shit. Because you had a choice! And you made it” starting to sound more calm I took a step back.

“Don’t even talk to me asshole” I said as I turned around and walked back in the prison, I felt the pain in my thigh coming back again. I still ignored it as I walked up to the perch, wanting to change out of the dirty and bloodstained clothes. I heard footsteps and a door slamming.

“Did you threw my shit outside?!” I heard Daryl yell at me.  
“You were gone, so it didn’t belong inside anymore” I said calmly. Within seconds he was upstairs and he stood in front of me, making me take a few steps back so I wouldn’t have a change to escape.  
“What would you have done huh? If it was your father out there?!” he yelled at me.

I heard baby Judith cries coming from downstairs and I tried to get past the angry redneck.  
“Answer me!” he yelled blocking my way.  
“I wouldn’t have to make a choice in the first place, because my dad is not a dumb prick like your brother!” I yelled back and I looked him in the eyes, seeing a fire burning in his eyes.

“Oh yeah, because your precious father is a saint” he said rolling his eyes.  
“Hea!! Don’t make this about my dad or me. Fact is you left!” I yelled back. I felt my head get a bit lighter at this point, a little voice in the back of my head saying it was because of the blood loss but I simply ignored it.

“I came back didn’t I!?” Daryl shot back.  
“Yeah, you did. Congrats to you Daryl, for being the asshole that returns” I said feeling tears fill my eyes and I took a few steps back.  
“Why is this such a big deal to you?” he asked while stepped closer towards me again.

“Are you that blind?” I asked shaking my head and he just looked confused.  
“Are you seriously that blind?!” I asked again, but still confusion was all over his face.  
“I needed you Daryl and hearing that you left damn near killed me” I said taking a step back as I felt tears taking over.

“When you left, you broke me… you broke my heart” I said and I saw his face soften with the words I told him.  
“You could have come and asked if I wanted to go with you and your brother... because I would have followed you everywhere” I felt my head spin and my legs getting wobbly, maybe I should have listened to that little voice in my head. I still saw he looked confused, he didn’t know what to say back.

“I fell for you, you asshole!” I said still angry with him.  
“And I thought..” I reached for my head with my hand as I felt like everything was turning.  
“I thought… I meant something to you too… “ I said my voice getting softer, Daryl immediately scooted closer as I threatened to fall.

“Don’t touch me!” I said, not having the energy anymore to push him away again. He supported me as I leaned against the railing.  
“You’ve been shot” he said softly, apparently he checked my body for injuries. He lifted me up without warning.  
“Get me down!” as I tried to fight him.

“No way, you need help.” he said as he came down and laid me on a table in the other room. He quickly ran out and yelled something I couldn’t hear anymore. I felt my mind slip in and out of consciousness, from being alone to seeing Hershel and Daryl above me.

“The bullet only grazed her, but she lost a lot of blood” I heard Hershel say.  
“She’s gonna need stitches.” He finished and that’s the last I heard before blacking out. I felt a sharp pain in my leg and my eyes shot open seeing the grey prison ceiling above me.  
A scream left my lips and I started to move away from the pain. When suddenly I felt multiple strong arms holding my body down. I slowly gave in as my vision went blurry and I felt my mind go blank.

 

I felt something soft underneath me and something thin covering my body. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the bottom of a bed. I realized I was in a cell and laying in a bed with sheets covering me. Slowly memories started to come back, with the last thing I knew I was on a table getting stitches.

I scanned the room and saw Daryl sitting in the corner looking at his knife he was playing with.  
“Don’t think I’ll forgive you, because you helped me” I said and his head shot up and looked at. He walked over towards me and kneeled down next to the bed.  
“How are you feeling?” he asked ignoring what I just said.

“Fine, I’m not staying in this room though” I sat as I was pushing myself up.  
“You stay here and I get Hershel to check first” he said sternly and I hated myself for listening to him as I stayed put. Hershel came in and did his check-up.

“You need to take it easy on that leg though” he said with a smile and I nodded.  
“I’ll try my best” I said smiling back.  
“Thank you” and he left the cell.

I pushed myself off of the bed and lost balance almost immediately feeling a sting in my leg. Daryl was by my side in a fraction of a second, but I pushed him away.  
“You did enough” I said coldly as I limped passed him.  
“By the way, the perch stays mine” I said before taking my time to get to the stairs.

I was still very tired, but there was no way I was going to stay in a cell. It took me quite some time to get up the stairs, but it was worth it. I wanted to prove I really was fine, despite of the pain. I needed to prove I would do fine without his help. Because no matter what, he wasn’t getting off easy. He is going to regret his choice, I just needed to make sure of it.

I let my body carefully fall on the matrass, but it still hurt like hell. As I laid on my back, thoughts came flushing in, my heart wanted to forgive him immediately. My head was telling me to make him sweat first, if I was going to forgive him. I sighed at how weak I felt when it came to that man.

Hated the fact how much he controlled my feelings.  
Hated how my heart just went right back to him, after he so easily left.  
I also hated the fact, that he had the power of making me selfish.

Here I am thinking about him and what do to. When we just had the enemy on our doorstep, destroying a part of our home and killing a member of our family.  
I had this bad feeling this wasn’t the last thing we would see from that governor prick.

My mind slowly slipped away again, giving in to the weariness.  
Even with all the problems our group has right now, my last thought before I fell asleep was Daryl…

 

 

It was early in the morning when I had woken up. My leg was still sore, but I was still thankful I didn’t need stitched on my stomach. Glenn had filled me in on everything that happened yesterday and what they had learned about Woodbury.

That Andrea was still alive and sleeping with our enemy as we speak. He told about the meltdown Rick had and how he had send the four survivors away. It made me feel even worse about my selfish actions, realizing I was needed in here yesterday.

Glenn told me it was okay that I needed to be alone, he also told me Rick and Maggie had informed him in the car ride back about Daryl and me and that he understood why I freaked out. Even though he said that, it still didn’t feel good.

 

Right now we were all gathered in the cellblock, well Merle was locked behind the door. I sat on the perch with my legs over the edge, I had changed back in own made shorts, letting my stitched wound breath. I wore the same top from yesterday and had my plaid shirt over it.

I watched as the conversation started, trying to keep up with it, but my mind had other plans. I had Daryl in my sight and I couldn’t help but look at him out of the corner of my eye.  
“No, better to live like rats” Merle’s remark got my attention.  
“You got a better idea?” Rick asked him.

“Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day… But we lost that window, didn’t we? I’m sure he’s got scouts on every road out of this place by now” my eyes went back to the younger Dixon as he answered his brother.  
“We ain’t scared of that prick” I laid my head on the arm that was resting on the railing.

“Y’all should be. That truck through the fence thing, that’s just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he’s got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place… Shoot… He could just starve us out if he wanted to” Merle said while leaning against the door.

“Let’s put him in the other cellblock” Maggie said and I couldn’t blame her after what he had done to her and Glenn. My mind tuned out again, thinking about what we could do next. As I tried to keep thinking about the safety of the group, my stupid heart had to mess with my head again by making me think of a certain person.

“GET BACK HERE” I’m suddenly taking out of thoughts as I hear Hershel yell. He was walking over towards Rick.  
“You’re slipping Rick. We’ve all seen it, but now is not the time. You once said this isn’t a democracy, now you have to own up to that. I put my family’s life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something!” the last time I heard Hershel speak in this stern voice was on the farm. It took me by surprise, but I was glad he had done it.

Maybe it was a little push Rick needed right now. After a little moment where the air was filled with tension, Rick walked away saying he was going to check out our watch posts. Not long after Rick left, his son followed him. I saw out of the corner of my eye Daryl was walking over towards me. I immediately slung my legs back on the perch, even though in pain, I stood up and went down the stairs.

I just knew myself, if I would allow him to speak now…  
I would have forgiven him before he even finished his damn excuse.

I walked away from the stairs even though it was taking quite a bit of strength.  
“Wow! Easy there Red, you don’t wanna pop a stitch do ya?” I looked up and saw the smug look on Merle’s face.  
“Oh just shut it” I said grumpy, wanting to walk away.

“He talked about ya” I turned my head back at the older Dixon.  
“Did he now?” I asked while I saw the smug look on his face that I stayed.  
“He talked about the group” I heard the slight disgust in his voice.

“How they were good people and shit. I just knew he couldn’t just talk about the sheriff and China man, but I never expected to see you again” I crossed my arms.  
“So he didn’t say something specifically about me” I said as I leaned against the wall next to the door.  
“Besides he’s Korean” I added and he just scoffed.

“That’s what he said” he muttered.  
“What’s your point Merle?” I sighed. He looked behind me and I followed his gaze. Daryl was talking to Carol, but his eyes where fixated on us.  
“I don’t know what my baby brother exactly did to piss you off, but I saw the way he looked when you slapped him” I looked back towards Merle.

“He left me…” I spat out.  
“I mean us all “ I said while looking at a grinning man.  
“My lil’ brother was just stupid to leave you behind.” I rolled my eyes at his flirty tone, didn’t he learn from our last meeting?

“I can give you all ya need Red” he said grinning while looking me up and down. I took a step closer, knowing Daryl’s eyes where probably still on us. There was just an inch between our faces, well and bars…  
“Not even if you were the last man on earth” I whispered, but that stupid grin remained on his face as I turned around, forcing a playful smile on my face as I walked away from Merle. In the corner of my eye I saw Daryl facial expression got angrier and I just knew he would take me closing in on his brother the wrong way.

 

I stood in between Michonne and Hershel leaning against the wall while talking to them as Rick came back inside. I could see him give the keys to Maggie as she was the next to take watch.  
“Field’s filled with walkers. I didn’t see any snipers out there, but we’ll keep Maggie on watch” Rick said as he approached us, Glenn right behind him and Daryl walking down the stairs.

“I’ll get up in the guard tower, take out half them walkers, give these guys a change to fix the fence” Daryl said.  
“Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place” Michonne added.  
“We can’t access the field without burning through our bullets” Hershel stated.  
“So we’re trapped in here. There’s barely any food or ammo” Glenn said while looking at all of us.

“Been here before. We’ll be all right” Daryl said back to him.  
“That’s when it was just us.” Glenn said raising his voice a bit. I rolled my eyes, here we go again. As Daryl and Glenn started arguing about Merle being here, I leaned towards Michonne.  
“Tell me what the plan is afterwards. I’m done listening to these arguments.” I lied and she just nodded.

I hobbled to the cell I kept my stuff in, hoping no one would notice the pain I was in. I sat down on the bed and looked at my leg. Slowly I peeled of the bandage around it, wanted to look at the stitched wound.

My thigh felt like it had its own heartbeat, throbbing like crazy. I saw that the skin around the wound was a bit red and swollen. Worry immediately took over as thoughts crossed my head that it was infected.

Maybe binding the wound yesterday with a sweaty dirty piece of my top wasn’t the smartest move, even though I had nothing else to stop the bleeding with. As I kept looking at the wound more horrible thoughts came in my mind.  
Like getting infected that bad that I could be losing it and maybe even get a fever so bad that I would die…  
I quickly shook my head trying to get the terrible image out of my mind. I mean look at Hershel, he got bit in his leg and he still lives.

Although the thought of living the rest of my life with just one leg still terrified me. My legs were a pretty essential part of me…  
Sure that’s the case for everyone, especially in this world. In case of Hershel, he was still a big asset to the group due to his medical skills and clear mind.

But what could I do?  
Hop around on one leg and give sarcastic comments and shit like that?  
I mean the only productive things I did are killing walkers, running, I was also a skilled fighter and I could hunt, even though Daryl was better at it than me..  
But still I could provide the group with food if needed.

Still the fact remained I needed both legs do to that. I seriously needed to see Hershel about this, since I was already thinking about the possibility I would have to amputate my leg. There was one person though, he can’t see or hear about this..  
Because he would probably make sure I won’t do anything until my leg was healed and that could be quite some time.

I carefully wrapped the used bandage back around the wound that stung pretty badly as I reapplied the pressure. I listened for a bit, I noticed the conversation outside the cells had stopped. I heard the sounds of Hershel’s crutches tapping the floor and I pushed myself up. I hopped to the door and saw that Hershel had just past my cell.

“Hershel?” I asked and he turned around and I noticed more people were looking at me.  
“Can I talk to you for a moment?” I asked with a smile not trying to concern anyone.  
“I just had a few questions about how long before I can take the stitches out and I can go back doing more stuff” I quickly added and he nodded.

I sat back down on the bed leaving space for Hershel to sit next to me on the right side. I softly bit my lip, nervous about the reaction I could be getting. Hershel came in and dropped himself next to me.  
“Let me look at it” he said and I looked up a bit surprised.

“You’re worried about how it looks, aren’t you?” I felt my cheeks burn up realizing how bad I apparently just lied. I sighed as I once again took the bandage off, a bit afraid of showing it to him. He looked at my wound and he was quiet while doing it.  
The silence felt like it was going on forever.  
“Well.. It’s slightly infected I’m afraid” and I felt fear taking over.  
“Good thing that you came to me this soon.” I sighed in relieve.

“Could we keep this between us?” I asked softly and he looked a bit questioning at me.  
“I don’t want anyone to get worried over nothing... especially a certain someone” I said while I felt my cheeks burn up once again. He nodded  
“It will be our little secret” he said with a wink.

 

 

“Fucking hell!” I muttered softly as I started to clean my wound. Hershel told me how to clean it and gave me the supplies so nobody would suspect anything. Because people would notice if I was in Hershel’s cell all the time. If the swelling or the redness got worse or other symptoms appeared I needed to warn Hershel. He had also told I could feel a slight sting when I cleaned the wound, but damn it stung like a bitch.

I breathed in and out a couple times as I got the clean bandage, making sure I wouldn’t touch the part that would cover the wound. I sighed as I felt the stinging pain that was caused by the pressure of the bandage and I just hoped it would all be over soon. I hated feeling vulnerable like this, not being able to do much.

I was taken out of my own little world when I heard Carl yell. I grabbed my bow that was next to the bed in the cell and my quiver, before I got up off the bed and walked out of my cell as quickly as possible. Everyone was getting guns and running outside. Rick walked passed me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Carl saw Andrea walking towards us. I want you to stay inside and protect Hershel and Judith if needed” he quickly said and ran away before I even had a chance to answer him. I looked at Hershel who just walked out of his cell, I walked up the stairs as fast as my leg allowed me. I fastened my quiver correctly and held my bow firm in my hand ready for something I hoped wouldn’t happen.

I looked to my right and saw Judith sleeping peacefully in a self-made crib. I heard people come in and Hershel looked up at me before he walked towards the common room. I wasn’t going after him, first of all I had to watch after Judith and second…  
I had nothing to say to Andrea.

I never really liked her anyways and now she was sleeping with the enemy. Even though she didn’t know it was our enemy...  
How could she be with a man like that? After hearing stories about him from Merle and Michonne, he was a real sick son of a bitch. How could she be so blind? I walked over to the crib when I heard some small noises.

“Hey baby girl” I said in a soft voice as I looked at baby Judith who was staring at me with her big beautiful eyes. She had her hands stretched out towards me and I placed the bow against the railing next to the crib before reaching in and picking her up.  
“You know, for a baby in a messed up world, you’re a pretty lucky baby” I said while I rocked her in my arms softly.

“You have a big family taking care of you and we will all protect you with our lives” I had one hand on her tummy and her little fingers grabbed a hold of my pink. It made the smile on my face even grow bigger, if that was even possible. I vaguely heard voices in the background coming from my group and Andrea, but my attention was glued on the little girl in my arms.

 

I had no idea how much time has passed by, but suddenly people were walking back into the block. I saw Beth walking over to me with a bottle in her hand.  
“Do you want to feed her?” she asked politely and I just shook my hand.  
“No, I think I’m gonna get some fresh air for a bit” I said giving Judith to Beth carefully.

“Be careful” she said and I smiled at her taking my bow with me. I reached the doors that divided the block and the common room when I heard footsteps behind me.  
“Where do you think you’re goin’?” I didn’t need to look back to know who it was, I would recognize his voice anywhere.

“None of your business” I said and I kept walking.  
“It’s not safe outside. Certainly not in your condition” I turned around and met Daryl’s gaze.  
“We have Maggie on guard and it’s not like I’m helpless.. I got shot! Rick got shot and he’s fine.. Carl got shot and he’s fine.. Hell even you got shot! And you’re still able to bother me” I shot back.

“Our wounds healed” he said while crossing his arms in front of his chest. I let my eyes fall on his strong well build arms and all my body yearned for was to be in them. I shook my head to get the urge out of my thoughts.  
“Well Michonne got shot recently. I don’t see you stopping her from getting some fresh air” I said crossing my arms too, mimicking his stance.

“So.. stop treating me like I’m some weak little girl who can’t protect herself!” I said before turning around to see Michonne just coming back inside. I just passed her, really needing some fresh air right now. I almost regretted my decision as I saw Andrea outside, but before I had a chance to go back in she had spotted me and walked towards me.

I saw her eyes scanning me and she looked a bit shocked.  
“What happened to you?” she asked while a worried look was spread across her face.  
“Ah well, nothing to serious. First Daryl decided to leave us all, then while trying to cope with everything in here your sweet boyfriend paid us a visit and shot at me and the others.” She looked like she didn’t know what to say.

“Well technically I don’t know who shot me, since there were bullets flying through the air. Thank god Merle and Daryl came back, they saved Rick” I said crossing my arms avoiding her eyes.  
“I’m so sor…” I interrupted Andrea by putting my hand up.  
“Save it Andrea. An apology from you won’t bring Axel back, or get our yard back” I said calmly.

“I mean look around you, he did this to us! Think about that while you go back to your psycho lover” I spat out before going back inside. Daryl was still in the common room and he got a grin on his face when I came back inside. I saw he wanted to say something, but I just flipped him off.  
“Don’t want to hear it” I said while walking away from him as fast as I could.

I went back to my cell, I was done with people for now. I grabbed the photograph of my dad, my Grams and me and just looked at it. I would kill for advice from anyone of them right now, hell, if I could even hold them for a couple of minutes I would kill someone right now.

 

Time has passed by and Andrea was gone, I stayed inside while the rest of the group said their goodbyes to her. It was dark now and we were all gathered in the block. I sat next to Beth and just stared into a little fire that was burning in front of me.

Everyone was quiet, you only heard the soft noises Judith made and the sound of burning wood. I tried to keep my eyes locked on the fire, but it was hard since Daryl was only a few feet away from me.  
Seriously I felt like some obsessed teenager, why couldn’t I get that man out of my head?

 

Out of nowhere Beth started singing and a smile grew on my face as I looked towards her. In the corner of my eye I saw that more people turned their attention towards Beth. I felt a bit guilty for not giving her much attention lately. Come to think of it, I neglected more of my duties I had promised myself to do.

I really needed to help other people more and ignore my own selfish desires. Without thinking I grabbed Beth’s hand and she looked at me smiling while continuing singing. For a moment all troubles in this world seem to disappear as I listened to the soft beautiful voice of the young lady next to me.


	25. The Meeting

“Hell no! You’re not comin’ with us” I had learned by now, that the angrier Daryl Dixon got the thicker his accent was. I turned around on the spot while fastening the quiver on my back.  
“Watch me” I said provoking.  
“You’ve been shot just a couple days ago! If you want to keep that leg, then stop being stubborn and rest!” he shouted back.

“Stop treating me like a little girl goddammit! I’m a grown woman for Christ sake!” I yelled back as I fastened the leg holster for my knife. I did it carefully since the wound was still a bit sore and the skinny jeans, which are the only kinds of jeans I own by the way, were applying a decent amount of pressure on it, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

“Besides” I said while crossing my arms and grinning a bit devious.  
“Hershel gave me the thumbs up to do shit again.” Daryl’s expression got even angrier, but I just raised one finger before he could speak.  
“And Rick gave his permission. So... you have nothing to say about this.” I said with my grin now turning victorious as I fastened the last knife on a belt loop, just like the case for my kunai’s.  
“Bet you wish I still owed you something” I said while I patted him on the chest before walking past him out of the cell.

 

Once I set a step outside of the prison, I felt liberated. I was finally being able to do something and it felt damn good. I saw Rick and Hershel waiting by the car and walked towards them.  
“You ready?” Rick asked and I nodded.  
“Yup, but I fear our fourth traveling partner is a bit cranky right now” I said with a smile while I heard footsteps behind me coming closer. I looked to the side and saw a glaring redneck walking towards his bike. Hershel and Rick both had a hard time trying not to laugh.  
“Well let’s go then” Rick said before the 3 of us got into the car.

The ride towards our destination was quiet and I just stared outside the window looking at the trees that were passing by. The last couple of days have been pretty calm, considering we were still on lockdown since we didn’t know if that governor prick had sent snipers or something. We had guard duties while the rest were pretty much doing nothing.

Rick, Carl and Michonne went on a run and came back with stuff for Judith and quite a bit of guns and ammo. They even got Daryl a new crossbow and brought him and me some more arrows. The rest of the days went by slowly, mostly because I couldn’t do much.

The only things I did was cleaning my wound, talk to Maggie, Beth and Carl. But most importantly I was playing the game ‘Pissing off Robin Hood’. I insulted his older brother daily, but always made it look like I was flirting and every time Daryl said something I shot back a sarcastic comment or acted like I didn’t hear him. I must admit I was pretty damn good at that game, because if looks could kill I would be dead so many times that I lost count.

Actually that last part was a lie…  
I knew exactly how many times I’ve received a death glare from him. Because no matter how good it felt to get under his skin, I felt hurt every time he looked at me like that. I even felt guilty sometimes for putting him through all this. And with the glare I got before we left I had received 23.

The only one that knew how conflicted I was about this situation was Maggie. At first I didn’t want to burden her with my pathetic problems, since she had enough on her own plate, but she pulled the words right out of my mouth. The only thing she had to say was that I needed to be careful if I ever wanted to let him in again, but other than that she didn’t really blame me for giving him such a hard time.

 

The car stopped and I looked at our surroundings, it looked pretty abandoned. Yesterday Andrea came back, telling us the governor was willing to talk about the current situation. Rick stepped out of the car and signed Hershel and me to stay back and keep watch.

After putting on my armguard and shooting glove I got out of the car, since I needed a bit more space than what I had on the backseat of the car. I climbed on the hood of the car, making sure I didn’t put too much weight on my right leg. I place the right leg on the top of the car and looked in the other direction than Hershel had his gun aimed at. I had my bow ready to fire if needed, but I still hoped I wouldn’t have to. 

“You know, just because I let you do more things, because the infection seemed to be gone, doesn’t mean you can jump all over the place” I heard Hershel say.  
“You still got stitches you know” he finished and I chuckled softly.  
“Don’t worry, I’m careful” I said while smiling at the older man. I looked back at our surroundings, but it seemed pretty clear to me.

“I see nothing here” I said to Hershel.  
“Let’s drive around the property a bit” Hershel said and I nodded before carefully getting of the car. I sat down on the passenger’s seat and kept looking around while Hershel drove slowly. We saw nothing unusual, so we drove back to where Daryl’s motorcycle stood.

We saw Daryl walking back to the spot when we just arrived and Hershel stopped the car.  
“He’s already in there. Sat down with Rick” he said while I kept looking around.  
“I don’t see any cars” Hershel responded.  
“It don’t feel right.. Keep it running” Daryl said and I heard something.

“Heads up” Daryl said while patting the hood of the car as another car drove our way. Hershel aimed his gun and I got out ready to fire an arrow. I watched as three people slowly got out of the car, two men and Andrea.  
“What the hell? Why’s your boy already in there?” Daryl immediately asked.  
“He’s here?” Andrea asked.

“Yup” Daryl and I responded in unison. We look at each other for a brief second without losing our aim. Andrea walked inside and I scanned the two unknown men before me. It was clear that one of them wasn’t much of a fighter, he looked way too nervous for that. The other leaned against the hood of the car while the nervous one was leaning over it writing god knows what down.

Daryl and I slowly lowered our weapons, as they didn’t aim at us. Hershel got out of the car too, but stayed next to it. Daryl was pacing and it was starting to make me nervous as well. I never was good with uncomfortable silences.  
“Maybe I should go inside” Hershel said out of nowhere. The nervous one pushed his glasses back on his nose and looked towards Hershel.

“The governor thought it best if he and Rick spoke privately” Daryl stopped pacing and looked towards the guy.  
“Who the hell are you?” he asked in a mocking tone.  
“Milton Mamet” he responded before looking back on his paper.  
“Great” Daryl said before turning his back to both men.

“He brought his butler” I laughed softly about the comment and I noticed the other guy grinned too.  
“I’m his advisor” he spoke calmly, the way he talked annoyed me a bit, I don’t know why.  
“What kind of advice?” I looked to the side for a second, wondering why Daryl talked so much.  
“Planning… Biters.. Uh, you know, I’m sorry. I don’t feel like I need to explain myself to the henchmen.” Now I knew why it annoyed me, he sounded like a prick that felt better than the rest, because in his head he is upperclass.  
“You better watch your mouth sunshine” Daryl quickly retorted.

“Look, if you and I are gonna be out here pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favor. Shut your mouth” I saw that Daryl stepped closer towards the other guy and I stepped in between.  
“We don’t need this. If all goes south in there, we’ll be at each others throats soon enough.” Hershel said calmly. I looked at them both before Daryl walked away.

I took a few steps back myself. I leaned back against the hood of our car and kept a close grip on my bow. I noticed the guy that looked like the governors personal bodyguard, was looking at the three of us. What annoyed me the most was the fact that his eyes stayed way longer on me.  
“Could you move your eyes somewhere else? I’m sure I’m not the first woman you see since this shit started, so stop staring” I said giving him a glare.  
He just chuckled  
“Pretty and attitude” I rolled my eyes while I sighed, I guess douchebags will always be there even if the world is ending. I looked the other way, but I still felt his eyes on me.  
“Are you deaf?” I heard Daryl say irritated to the guy.

“Sorry I didn’t know I was eyeing your girl” he responded provoking.  
“Ha!” blurted out of my mouth and both boys looked at me confused.  
“I’m not his” I said while looking accusing. I saw a grin on the guys face when I said that.

“But I’m not gonna be yours either” I said looking a bit disgusted at him.  
“Maybe you should get to know me better” he said still grinning and walking towards me.  
“I’m sure I can change your mind” he said getting way too close for my comfort. I was about to grab his arm and throw him on the ground when Daryl intervened and pushed him away.

That’s when things happened really fast and the guys were yelling at each other and started pushing.  
“Hey!!” I yelled trying to get the two apart. Milton just looked up, but then turned back to writing in his stupid notebook. Hershel came walking towards us and in his booming loud voice, that he used last against Rick. He ordered them both to stop, while I tried to push them away from each other.  
The guys calmed down a bit and I pushed Daryl back softly.  
“He is not worth it” I said softly before turning around.  
“Now stay at you own car and look anywhere but in our direction! Or I’ll break your nose” he scoffed.

“Watch it Martinez, she is capable of that” I heard Andrea’s voice and we all looked her direction. She sat down on a bench; looking defeated while the guy named Martinez walked over and closed the door. I guessed by the way Andrea looked right now; it wasn’t going that well inside.

 

Time went by very slowly and I was getting sick of just waiting, they better get to a solution soon. This was just as boring as staying at the prison not allowed to do things, but I shouldn’t complain since I was allowed to come with. Daryl was pacing back and forth with his crossbow in his hands and it was starting to get on my nerves a bit.

“There’s no reason not to use this time we have together to explore the issues ourselves” Milton suddenly spoke up and walked towards us, with his stupid little book in his hands.  
“Boss said to sit tight and shut up” Martinez said in a cranky tone.  
“Don’t you mean the Governor?” Daryl said in a mocking tone as he stopped pacing.

“It’s a good thing they’re sitting down, especially after what happened. They’re gonna work it out… Nobody wants another battle.” He said starting to really annoy me, with the way he spoke.  
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a battle” Daryl retorted.  
“I would call it a battle and I did. I recorded it..” he said waving that stupid book around.

“For what?” Daryl asked like Milton was saying something really stupid.  
“Somebody’s got to keep a record of what we’ve gone through. It’ll be a part of our history” I crossed my arms and looked at him a bit appalled.  
“So because you recorded so, it will be so? Maybe you should write down the stories from both sides” I spat at him before turning my head. I saw through the corner of my eye that Milton didn’t really know what to say back.

“That makes sense” Hershel said, trying to change the sensitive subject and I guessed it worked.  
“I’ve got dozens of interviews..” Milton didn’t finish his sentence as we heard growling noises coming closer. We all turned our heads towards the sounds. Daryl ran ahead with his crossbow, Martinez after him after grabbing a baseball bat from his car, followed by Andrea and me both armed with our knives.

We stopped as we saw multiple walkers coming our way.  
“After you” Daryl said motioning towards Martinez.  
“No way.. you first” Martinez said back. Andrea and I shared a look before rolling our eyes.  
“Men” I sighed before we walked past the boys and stabbed the first two walkers that where walking our way.

After that the boys were starting to show off their walker killing skills. Again Andrea and I rolled our eyes and sighed in unison before walking away letting the boys play.  
“So I’m guessing by the way you looked walking out of that barn, things aren’t going that well between them” I said and she just shook her head.  
“They kicked me out” she said simply back.  
“Ah well... Testosterone is making men make stupid decisions…. And hell I don’t know if it’s this place or this goddamn new world, but today it seems to be way too much hanging in the air.” I said chuckling and I earned a chuckle from her back. I stopped just a few feet away from Milton and Hershel who were sitting on a bench together.

“I’m sorry about the way I acted the last time. I had a lot of things on my mind” I said and she turned back towards me.  
“It’s okay” she said with a smile. She walked back to the bench she sat on before and I walked towards our car leaning back against it grabbing my bow that was on the hood after placing my knife back in its holster.

I lost track of time, next thing I knew Daryl and Martinez came back.  
“I guess playtime is over” I mumbled and I walked towards the bench Andrea sat on earlier. She stood by the car talking with Hershel and Milton. It didn’t take long before Daryl sat next to me, I wanted to walk away, but my leg could use the rest I was giving it right now. The air felt awkward between us, I guess neither of us knew what to say.

“So what’s with you and my brother all of a sudden?” he said softly. I chuckled, it was about damn time he asked. At least now I knew he had noticed it.  
“Jealous much?” I asked provoking. Before he could answer the barn door opened.

The governor walked out first, followed by Rick. Both man said nothing and Hershel walked away from Milton and Andrea. The governor and Rick both got in the cars and I just stood up. Hershel got in the car and without even discussing it with Daryl, I walked with him towards his motorcycle.

I got on with my back against his, he had his crossbow on the handlebar of his bike. I had my bow ready while looking at the car with the governor and his people; I didn’t trust that guy at all. I just get a really bad vibe from him, I don’t know if it’s the eyepatch, but he certainly looked creepy. What the hell did Andrea see in that guy?

 

We drove back towards the prison, I still kept an eye on everything trying to make sure no one was following us. While the drive towards this meeting felt like forever, the drive back was over before I knew it. As soon as we were behind the fences and Daryl stopped the bike I got off. Looking him in the eye for a split second before lowering my head and walking inside the prison.

That was the closest I had been to him since our fight the day he got back. Somehow it didn’t feel weird at all, it felt like home, it felt safe. I pushed the thoughts out of my head, when I noticed everyone was inside, looking towards Rick who had just grabbed a rifle.  
“So, I met this governor… Sat with him for quite a while...” he said.

“Just the two of you?” Merle asked out of nowhere. Rick nodded and Merle started walking away.  
“Should have gone when we had the chance, bro” he said while passing Glenn. Did we miss something? I asked myself as I looked towards Maggie and Glenn, but they just turned their heads back towards Rick after they shared a glance.

“He wants the prison... He wants us gone... Dead…” Rick said and the vibe in the room felt tense.  
“He wants us dead for what we did to Woodbury…” everyone was silent while looking at Rick.  
“We’re going to war” he said before walking away, leaving the rest of us behind.

I wrapped my arms around my own waist, what I was fearing this whole day was just confirmed. I noticed Daryl and Merle looked at each other for a moment. Daryl looked at me after that and I just bit my lip before looking away from him.

Was it time to forgive him?  
Now that we were about to go to war...  
Was it time for me to tell him how I feel, before there was no time left to tell him?  
Would I be able to move on, if I never knew what I was to him?  
Who knew…  
This may be the last moment to find out.

“Fuck” I muttered while I gritted my teeth.  
“Try to sit still” Hershel said sternly but in a calm way. It was the day after the meeting with the one eyed devil and Hershel said the stitches could be removed. I was happy to get rid of them, but damn this sucked. It wasn’t exactly pain that I felt, it was just a nasty feeling. It reminded me of getting tattooed a bit, some parts you barely felt and other parts stung like a bitch.

After what felt like hours Hershel finally said those relieving words.  
“All done” and I just sighed looking at my leg. It wasn’t a pretty picture that’s for sure, it would defiantly be one hell of an ugly scar, but on the bright sight...  
I got to keep my leg.

“Thanks” I said.  
“Now, you still need to take care of it for a few days, clean it and try not to force things. You will probably feel it for a couple of weeks, maybe even longer.” He said and I just nodded. He smiled to me and left me in the cell.

After putting on a new bandage I carefully pulled on some pants, since I wasn’t going to walk around in my underwear and I wasn’t in the mood for my shorts. Yeah I actually had to be in to mood for those things, not caring if it was smoldering hot outside.  
If I wasn’t feeling like it, I just didn’t wear them.

I just sat and stared at nothing for a moment, how to avoid Daryl?  
My guts told me to stop being such a pussy and just talk to him, but my heart was in fear. I just didn’t know how to start a conversation with him after everything I put him through, which he deserved pretty much for what he did to me.

My biggest fear would be his reaction, I really wanted to know what he felt, but on the other side I didn’t. I wouldn’t know what to do or how to react if he rejected me. Would it be worth the risk not to talk to him, knowing this could be my last change?  
There was a possibility that one of us wouldn’t survive the war with the one eyed devil.  
I sighed, let’s just hope there was enough work to do today so I wouldn’t have to worry about this shit and actually do something important for the group.

The day went by pretty fast, we did some preparation in case the governor came unexpected. We would continue tomorrow, since it was getting pretty late. Rick was on watch duty for the whole day even though multiple people wanted to take over, he just refused. The rest of us were inside, eating some dinner.

There was a comfortable silence during dinner and I enjoyed every second of it. Well maybe comfortable was a big word, everyone was a bit tense and on guard. Only difference is those feelings weren’t for each other, but for what might happen to us all. The whole group, except for Daryl was still a bit anxious about Merle, but I guess after what they’ve been through with that guy I couldn’t blame them.

Hell the only reason I talked to the guy was to get a rise out of Daryl. Although today I’ve been avoiding both of them. I was really conflicted with myself right now, I still wanted to give Daryl hell for what he did to me, but a little voice in my head said that I should stop what I was doing.

I was getting mad at myself for acting this stupid, but even more that I was overthinking this every moment I sat still.  
“Anything you want to share?” I heard Maggie softly ask all of the sudden. I looked at her and shook my head.  
“Not really I’m just really tired I guess” I lied.  
“Well get some rest then” she said with a smile and grabbed the plate from my hand. Before I could object she already walked away.

After going crazy for most of the night, I woke up feeling like shit. Why couldn’t I just stop for once... Right now all I wanted to do was lay in bed all day, but there was work to be done and I didn’t want to slack. We really needed to fortify this place if we were at the brink of war.

In no time most of us were busy outside. I had noticed Hershel, Rick and Daryl talking some time ago and it made me curious about what they were talking about. Right now I was in the field with Glenn, Daryl, Michonne and Beth behind the wheel of the truck. We were placing barbed wire across the field while Maggie and Carl were distracting most of the walkers. I was killing some stray walker with Michonne so the two men could do their work without worrying.

“Come on, let’s go!” I heard Daryl call and I looked towards Michonne who was already walking towards the truck. I stabbed the last walker and jogged towards the vehicle and got in the back with a small jump. I sat on the ledge with my back towards Glenn and Daryl, trying to gain control over my breathing without worrying one of the guys.  
I had been taking it easy for the last couple days because of my leg, and since I didn’t sleep that much last night, my body was fighting me once again. I saw Rick close the gate as soon as we were back on safe ground. I got off the back of the truck and Daryl and Glenn where close behind me.

“If they try to drive up to the gate again, maybe some blown tires will stop them” Glenn said. I saw Rick nod  
“That’s a good idea”  
“It was Michonne’s” after Daryl said that, I noticed the look he and Rick shared. Which made me curious once again.

“We don’t have to win. We just have to make their getting at us more trouble than it’s worth” Michonne said after getting out of the car. There was a little silence that made me a bit nervous. It was broken when Maggie and Carl arrived and Rick looked at Daryl once more.  
“Let’s go” and we all followed Rick.

 

A few hours had passed and we all did different tasks to make sure there was only one way for the governor to get in. I was wiping the dirt and sweat out of my neck with an old rag when I saw Rick speeding towards Daryl. I made sure to get out of sight when I heard him say: it’s off.

“We’ll take our chances” did it have something to do with the conversation they had this morning with Hershel?  
I really had to focus to hear what Daryl was saying, something about a wrong call and a right one?  
I looked around the corner carefully and noticed how tense Rick was.

“I can’t find Merle or Michonne” I heard Rick say, what the fuck was going on? Suddenly I saw the two men running away and without second guessing it, I decided to follow them. I stood out in the hallway just outside of a room Rick and Daryl just entered. I just hoped they wouldn’t catch me or else I had a lot of explaining to do about why I was following them...  
on second thought..  
THEY have a lot of explaining to do about what was going on.

“He was in here… said he was looking for drugs.. Said a lot of things... actually” Daryl said about Merle I guess.  
“Like what?” Rick asked.  
“Said that you were gonna change your mind…” change his mind about what?! I looked around the corner as I heard their voices going farther away from me and saw enough places to hide behind so I entered the room getting closer.

“Here we go… Yeah, he took her here... They mixed it up” I was thinking about showing myself and asking what the hell was going on, but decided to stay put just a little longer after I heard Rick say he was going after him.  
“You can’t track for shit” I heard Daryl say, which was the truth about Rick. Daryl was one of the two trackers in this group, I was the other one.

I wasn’t that good as Daryl yet, but I knew my way thanks to him.  
“Then the both of us” I heard Rick say.  
“No, just me... I said I’d go and I’ll go... Plus they’re gonna come back here. You need to be ready… your family too.” I heard Daryl say before I heard a door open and close right after. I stepped out of my hiding place

“Why has Merle taken Michonne?” I said and I noticed I startled Rick. He slowly turned around and I saw the nervousness on his face.  
“Where are they going? And why does Daryl need to go after them?” I asked this time a little more stern and taking a few steps towards our leader.  
“I made a mistake” he said barely audible.

“What the hell is going on, Rick?” I said almost in anger now, getting more impatient by the second.  
“The governor made an offer… Michonne in exchange for a truce..”  
“WHAT!?” I yelled.  
“Are you out of you fucking mind?! And you believed that one eyed scumbag?!” I said feeling enraged.

“That’s why Daryl is going after them, I’ve come to the realization that it was a mistake. I just hope it’s not too late” I pushed Rick out of the way, I was going after them too. I already had all my weapons on anyway. I felt his hand around my arm.  
“You can’t go after them” I heard him say.

“Let me go” I said viciously. I still felt his grip and I turned around to look at him.  
“He’s not leaving us again” I said with anger and determination. Apparently it worked since Rick loosened his grip and looked shocked by my reaction. I took the bow of my back and grabbed an arrow before going outside.


	26. He's Back

I was doing everything Daryl had ever taught me and I felt confident I was on the right track. I had killed a few walkers on the way, but if I was correct and I was really hoping I was, I wouldn’t be too far behind Daryl. Even though he had a head start and probably ran faster than me right now.  
I was so determined to find him, he wasn’t leaving us again...  
I was going to make sure he wouldn’t leave me again...  
  
Even if he was just going out to get Merle and Michonne back, I wasn’t taking any risks. What if Merle changed his mind again and Daryl went with him again? At least now he could tell it to my face if that happened.  
  
Besides, this was a kind of payback for him; he never let me go alone somewhere, now the roles are reversed. I saw a dead walker in the grass and I looked at it, this had a Daryl kill all over it. Shot straight in the eye, a hole perfectly fitting for an arrow. I looked around for clues for what direction he went next and found it soon enough.  
 

Once again I lost track of time and I had no idea how long I’d been chasing Daryl’s trail. I was starting to doubt myself now, maybe I read the signs wrong and was now horrible lost. I’m sure that would crack Daryl up, before he was going to yell at me once again for not thinking.  
I sighed, was he right?  
Do I do things without thinking it through which ends up with me getting into trouble?

Fuck it! NO! He wasn’t right about me, I follow my gut, trust my instincts and listen to my heart and if that’s not the right way to do it, then so be it. I started jogging again, feeling the little boost of confidence I just got.

After a short while I saw Michonne looking a bit exhausted, I was relieved to see her unharmed and not in the hands of a monster. Worry came next when I noticed neither of the Dixon brothers was with her. The look in her eyes showed me she wasn’t entirely surprised I was there.  
“Please tell me that they are alive” I said feeling my heart sink. She just nodded.

“But you can’t go after them” she said. I raised my brow.  
“Why the hell not?!” feeling a bit insulted.  
“Daryl asked me too” she said shrugging.  
“You’re not stopping me” I said walking towards her sounding like I was giving her an order.

She shrugged again.  
“I know I can’t” she said walking past me. I was a bit astonished that she would let me go so easy. Or maybe she was just too tired to even bother. I started jogging again, afraid she would change her mind. I was way too close to go back now.

 

I looked around me and everything felt familiar. Like I’ve been here before... Then it hit me...  
I had been here before, it was the spot where Rick met with the one-eyed prick. This is probably where Rick had agreed to take Michonne, but why would Daryl or Merle go here?  
Doubts came back in my mind, I really thought I was following the right tracks.

I changed weapons when I spotted more walkers, while I was still looking for the boys. I was still more comfortable with my knives, especially in places like this. After killing a walker I noticed it was a ‘fresh’ one...  
The smell was less vile then with most of them, and the skin wasn’t as rotten as the most walkers in this area.

My head shot up when I heard a scream, within seconds I was back on my feet and running towards the sound. I would recognize that voice anywhere. I suddenly came to a stop when I saw Daryl crouched over a walker and stabbing it again and again with so much anger. I came closer and heard Daryl sobbing.  
Wait...  
What?!  
  
Daryl let himself fall onto his back and I saw the walker lying on the ground, I recognized the clothing and I was frozen to the ground. My mouth fell open in shock...  
There in front of me lay the body of Merle Dixon...  
Only recognizable by his clothing and the large blade instead of a hand.

My eyes traveled towards Daryl and my heart broke when I saw him. Devastation was written all over him, he hadn’t even noticed me. It felt like someone flipped a switch inside me as I forgot every stupid thing I was angry with him for.

As I felt a few tears roll down my cheeks I slowly walked towards Daryl and kneeled between his legs. He looked startled for a moment when he saw me there and it even looked like he wanted to say...  
Well probably yell something at me.  
I just let my gaze go to the side towards Merle before turning back towards Daryl.

“I’m sorry” I pushed out of me with all the strength I had and tears flowed from his face. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed him against my chest. I felt how his body stiffened for a few seconds before slowly going limp. I noticed some hesitation in his arms, but eventually his arms found his way around my body.

I felt his hands grab a hold of my shirt so tightly I was sure he could rip it any second, but it was okay...  
At least he wasn’t rejecting me right now. This was the second time in a short while that I had a broken man in my arms, but this time it felt so much more intense than the last time.

Sure Rick’s grieving was hard to see, but the emotions that Daryl was showing right now felt like losing my grandmother all over again. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to avoid breaking down myself. I took a deep breath and I kissed the top of his head before leaning my head on his, keeping my grip on him.  
“I’m so sorry”

 

 

I walked back in to the prison, while rubbing my neck. Damn I was really tired, it was in the middle of the night. I kept Glenn some company on his watch, since Maggie was really tired as well and Glenn made her go to bed. Daryl would take over the watch from him, so I wanted to go to bed before that happened. We hadn’t said much to each other since Merle’s death.  
  
_We’d been sitting on the ground for a pretty long time, before I felt his arms leave my body and he roughly rubbed his eyes while standing back on his feet. He grabbed his crossbow from the ground and started looking around. I watched him for a moment looking a bit confused. It wasn’t long before he had gathered some supplies and started to drag Merle’s body away from all the dead walkers._  
  
I had finally gotten on my own feet and followed him. It didn’t take long before I was staring at flames that were surrounding Merle’s corpse, the smell that came from it was horrible. I looked to the side towards Daryl, he just nodded.  
“Let’s go” he said and he turned and walked away. I followed him and looked back a couple times, not really believing Merle was dead.  
  
I shook my head after reliving that afternoon. It was dark and silent in the prison and I enjoyed the simple moment of peace. I froze in my place as Daryl was a few feet in front of me, probably on his way out. He stopped walking too and we just stared at each other for a moment. I wanted to say something, but no words left my mouth.

Nervously I pushed a few loose strands of hair behind my ears and looked to the ground. I heard his footsteps and I knew he was standing right in front of me now.  
“How are you?” I asked my voice trembling. I looked up at him and he just shrugged.  
“You?” he asked and once again I looked to the ground.

“He didn’t deserve to die like that” I said softly and I felt his hand on my cheek, his thumb wiping away a tear I didn’t even realized had left my eye. It felt good to feel his touch once again, but fear struck me too. Fear of falling back into old habits and I couldn’t deal with that.  
  
I took a step back so his hand left my face, I looked him in the eyes and he looked a bit confused by my actions.  
“I can’t do this again Daryl...” confusion grew on his face as the first words left my mouth.  
“I can’t and won’t be a secret anymore,” my eyes started to burn and I bit my lip for a second.  
“If you really care about me, then prove it... “ I said before walking away not giving him a change to respond.

 

Once again morning came way to quickly if you ask me, but there was a lot that had to be done today. Yesterday Rick told everyone that he wouldn’t be the only one making choices from now on, everything we do had to be a group decision. Since we all were afraid that the governor would strike today, since Rick was giving two days to hand over Michonne and we didn’t.

I looked down at my bag, I didn’t have much to pack since I never unpacked it anyway. On top of all the stuff that were crammed in my bag was the picture I took from my house. I was kind of surprised I still had that since we as a group lost so much along the way. I closed the bag and got off the bed that was in the cell.  
  
I was fully equipped with my weapons and I slung the bag over my shoulder. As I walked out of my cell I saw everyone gathering his or her personal belongings and important supplies. Carl had been quiet all morning and was especially ignoring his father. He wasn’t allowed to stay inside the prison and help with the trap we had planned for the governor. He was pissed at his father and he didn’t hide it.  
  
Carl was going to hide in the woods with Hershel, Beth and Judith. I was ordered to do the same thing...  
My duty was to protect them and get them out of there if necessary. I was the only one aware of that last part of the plan. Rick would have probably told Hershel if he wasn’t certain that he would never leave one of his daughters behind. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to do it and that the trap inside the prison would be good enough.

I wasn’t quite sure myself if I would have the strength to leave everyone to their fate. Leaving Rick, Carol, Glenn, Maggie and Daryl to their faith while bringing the rest to safety. These thoughts had control of my mind all morning and it was killing me on the inside that I might just have to do it.  
 

 

I leaned against the car that we were taking, watching everyone stuffing the cars with all the stuff we owned. I was starting to get nervous, but I didn’t want anyone to know. Especially the ones I was going to the woods with to hide. The longer it took, the more it felt wrong to hide out there while a part of my family is fighting in here...  
Risking their lives.

Once again Carl was ignoring his father and I felt bad for Rick. I understood why Carl was mad at him, Carl wanted to help the group, but I also understood Rick trying to protect his son. As soon we packed everything I just looked at the part of the group that stayed behind, getting a heavy feeling on my heart. Hoping this wasn’t the last time I was going to see them. I got behind the wheel and Hershel was next to me.

Carl and Beth sat in the backseats while Judith slept in Beth’s arms. I looked at the group one last time before starting the car. The last eye contact I had was with Daryl, who was at the gate. The pit in my stomach grew and I sighed as I drove away from the prison and a part of my family.  
The vibe in the car was pretty tense and I wasn’t making my secret job any easier. How the hell was I going to get four people back in this damn vehicle after knowing the prison fell with our loved ones still in it.  
 

We didn’t have to drive far and I was thankful for the fact that the car could handle the forest ground. We all got out as soon as we reached a good spot with enough cover from the trees. Judith was left behind on the backseat to sleep, after Beth made sure she stayed in place.  
The four of us quickly covered the car with all the leaves and branched we could find, but in a way we still could get in fast in case we needed it. We also left one window completely open for our sleeping angel.  
  
Now the waiting began, Carl had his gun with silencer ready and Hershel had a gun ready. Hell, even Beth had a gun in her hands. I felt a bit out of place with my bow firmly in my hand, but I just wasn’t comfortable with a gun in my hands since I sucked at firing one.  
Time passed by, Beth and Hershel got a bit more comfortable. Guns still in their hands, but not aiming.

Just like Carl I never took my eyes of our surroundings, the only difference was that I had my bow low and Carl was still ready to fire at once. After what felt like hours as nobody said a word, I heard the first sound after we left the prison. A small cry coming from the car, baby Judith was awake. Hershel went in and started feeding the little girl.

I saw Beth walking towards me from the corner of my eye and smiled at her briefly before looking around us again.  
“I should have asked sooner, but how are you doing lately?” I asked softly, trying to keep the conversation between the two of us.  
“Alright considering what we’ve been through” she said in her soft innocent voice.  
“How about you?” I nodded.

“The same I think” I said giggling.  
“And between you and Daryl? After the whole slapping in the face thing and Merle’s death” that question shocked me a bit and I looked at her with a surprised look on my face. I was speechless for a moment.  
“Uhm... better... nothing to worry about” I said with a smile on my face.

“So you and Daryl are together now?” I heard Carl ask.  
“Excuse me?” I said looking at Carl and then looking at both of them.  
“I don’t know what you guys heard or think you saw. But there’s nothing going on between Daryl and I” I lied, pleased with the fact I sounded convincing enough to get two confused eyes pointed to me.  
“Then why did you slap him?” Beth asked. I chuckled.

“Because he left us, when we needed him” I said.  
“Now both of you stop making assumptions and keep looking out for the governor and his men. You little smartasses” both of them giggled a bit and I just shook my head.  
“So Judith is back to sleep” I heard Hershel say after he got out of the car with a small grin on his face while looking towards me.

“Don’t even start” I said as a warning towards the older man. He held up his hands in defense before grabbing the gun that was leaning against the car.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” he said, the grin still plastered on his face and I just knew he had heard everything we just said. The worse part, he knew more about the situation I was in with Daryl.  
At least, that’s what I assume, he is not a dumbass. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if everyone at the prison knew what I really felt for Daryl, except Daryl himself because he is too damn stubborn to even notice.  
  
  
The silence had returned, but this time it was more relaxed. We were still alert since this wasn’t exactly a safe spot and Carl and I had killed a few walkers, but there was no tension between us and that felt really good. The silence was broken by a loud explosion and a lot of gunfire. I bit my lip, the asshole and his army were here...

We all looked at each other before we went back to scoping the area for any threats. The silence slowly returned, any second now…  
The plan would start.  
I wasn’t a religious girl…  
But I was tempted to pray for the plan to work. I felt on edge, wanting more eyes so I could see every inch of this goddamn thick forest.

My head shot up towards the prison as the sirens took over the silence. So everything was in motion now, Hershel had put a protective arm around his little girl while they used the coverage of the car covered in leaves. Carl was pacing and sighed.  
“I should be there” I looked him in the eyes and shook my head.  
“No you don’t... You’ve done enough already” I said strict and he just scoffed.

   
Carl ignored me for the rest of our time out here. In the distance we could hear people screaming, but I couldn’t figure out what they said. The gunfire had stopped and suddenly I heard leaves crack from a distance. Hershel and Carl raised their guns, Beth stayed behind her father and I aimed my bow.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa , whoa… Don’t shoot” the guy, well kid said as he held his gun to the side. Damn this boy couldn’t be older than 16...

“Drop the weapon, son” He nodded briefly and looked towards us all.  
“Sure… here take it” he said as he looked towards Carl, wanting to give him the gun.  
The sound that came next rang through my ears, even though Carl used his silencer. The kid had dropped to the ground...  
He shot him...  
He was surrendering and Carl just fucking shot him. Hershel and I shared a concerned and shocked look about what the fuck just happened.

 

Not long after the events in the forest, we had gotten the sign that it was safe. I drove the car back to the prison. A couple from our group stood there waiting at a side entrance to help us get all the stuff from the car back inside. Rick greeted Beth first, since she was holding his daughter and he hugged his son. By now we were all informed about how they wanted to go after the governor and end this for good.

“Dad, I’m coming to Woodbury” Carl said, not responding towards his father’s embrace. I stopped beside them as did Hershel. Rick went down to his son’s level.  
“Carl..” he said while looking towards the ground. Rick stood up again.  
“Dad, I did my job out there. Just like all of you… Took out one of the governor’s soldiers” Carl said in defense.

I wanted to interfere, but Hershel beat me to that.  
“One of his soldiers? A kid running away? He stumbled across us.” Carl looked towards Hershel  
“No, he drew on us” Rick placed a hand on his son’s shoulders.  
“I’m sorry you had to do that” Carl pointed his attention to his father again.

“It’s what I was there for. I’m going with you” he said determined before walking away from us. Hershel came closer and waited for Carl to be out of hearing range before speaking up again.  
“That kid was scared... He was handing his gun over” Rick looked at Hershel in disbelieve.  
“He said he drew… Carl said it was in defense” Rick said not believing what he just heard.

“I was there.. He didn’t have to shoot. He had every reason not to..” Rick shook his head.  
“Maybe it looked like that to you, Hershel..” Hershel and I said Rick’s name in unison to get his attention.  
“I’m telling you... he gunned that kid down” and after those words Hershel walked away from us.  
“He’s telling the truth Rick… The kid was handing his gun towards Carl and he shot him in the head…” I left Rick, wanting to drop all the stuff I carried in and hoping he would realize what his son did.

  
Soon we were all outside again, Daryl on his bike, Michonne loading a car…  
Carl was leaning against a bench and looked down, Rick probably told him he couldn’t come. Rick walked over to his son, and had what looked like an intense conversation with his son. Carl dropped something before walking passed me back inside. My eyes followed the kid before I joined the others around the vehicle.  
  
“Rick, we’re staying. We don’t know where the governor is... if he comes back, we’ll hold him off” Glenn said for him and Maggie.  
“Just the four of us? All right” I heard Daryl said, but I was having second thoughts of going with them.  
“I appreciate you staying” Rick said towards Maggie and Glenn. Daryl signed me to come over to his bike and I walked towards him.

“Get on” he said.  
“I need to stay” and he looked surprised.  
“I’m needed here” and he just nodded. I wanted to turn around but looked back towards him.  
“Just come back this time” I said almost pleading and he nodded.

I turned my head, but it shot right towards my arm as I felt someone grabbing it. Daryl stood up from his bike and he had a look in his eyes I couldn’t quite figure out. The next moment made my heart stop and my eyes shot open in surprise.  
  
I felt his hand on both sides on my face as he roughly pressed his lips on mine. I heard wolf whistles and cheering behind me. My cheeks heated up as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled back and leaned his forehead against mine.  
“I promise I’ll always come back to you” he whispered before kissing my forehead and letting me go.

“Let’s go!” he yelled and got back on his bike. I just stood there frozen to the ground, not really understanding what just happened. Michonne, Rick and Daryl drove away, Carol opening and closing the gate for them.  
“So... finally someone found his balls” I heard Maggie say in a teasing way and I just giggled.  
“I guess so...” I just said, not being able to stop giggling.

 

 

I had stayed up all night, since the trio hadn’t returned yet. I tried to talk to Carl, but he just ignored me multiple times. I went outside after my 5th failed attempt to get the kid to talk to me. Maggie and Glenn were keeping watch and I just kept my distance thinking about everything that happened this day.  
I was glad we survived the attack, all of us.  
But what happened in the forest was stuck on my mind.

He just shot the kid, how could a freaking 13-year old just shoot someone like that. Yeah, Carl had been through hell since the world went to shit, but still..  
He was just 13 for god’s sake.

Another thought had come back to haunt me, maybe the real reason I chose to stay. Could I take someone’s life?  
If it was threatening my family, I was scared I couldn’t. Killing a walker was simple, it was already dead, but a living human being?  
No matter how rotten?  
I don’t think I could do it.  
 

The sun was rising and I was buried in my hoodie and jacket since the temperature had dropped quite a bit during the night. I felt relieved when I saw a bike pulling up, followed by a car and a school bus?  
Did they take that from Woodbury?  
Maggie and Glenn had opened the gate, and Daryl drove passed me, giving me a smile and I smiled back.

They parked their vehicles as Maggie and Glenn closed the gate again. The rest of the group came back outside, but my eyes were glued to the bus, which was full of people. I saw Carl and Rick walk away from the bus, but my eyes went back towards all the people coming out.

I recognized the man helping, he was at the prison before Rick sent them away. My smile grew enormous when I saw Daryl walk towards me, it felt so good seeing him unharmed.  
“Kayleigh?!” a voice laced with an Irish accent yelled. Before I could look where it came from I felt the arms of a man around me, holding me tight.

“I never thought I would see you again” I heard slowly recognizing the voice. I was still a bit stunned and I looked towards Daryl and his expression had changed in something unreadable before walking away.


	27. Mine

_In all the chaos that followed after the Atlanta bombing, I lost sight of the Dixon brothers. Everyone was in panic and in a hurry to get away and of course I got stuck in the middle of all that._   
_“Dad, come on!! Pick up your goddamn phone and call me back already!!” I yelled at my phone that was on speaker on my dashboard._

_I sighed, I usually knew how to keep my head cool, but now I started to panic big time. Mostly because my dad wasn’t picking up his phone. The fleeing mass was driving me crazy and people were getting aggressive. I dialed my father’s number once again, only to hear his voicemail yet again._

_After hours of chaos, the situation around me started to get a little bit less chaotic. It was then that I noticed quite a few people had abandoned their cars and just my luck.._   
_I got stuck between a few of those cars. I sighed once again, I grabbed my phone and for some paranoid reason I took one of the knives I had packed as well._

_I got out seeing no other way then to start pushing cars away so I could try to get mine out of this mess. I started with the one in front of my truck. My head shot up when I heard strange grunting noises, I turned my head towards the sound and saw a guy with bloodshot grey eyes. Which kinda freaked me out, that wasn’t a good look._

_“Can I help you sir?” I asked politely trying to hide the fact that I was pretty spooked. As an answer to my question the man just grunted, when he came closer I saw that he was covered in blood, but something shocked me. It was impossible for the man to walk since his guts where hanging out of his stomach and his neck was ripped open._

_I took a step back in fear, but was cornered in between cars. The arms of the guy came closer as he neared me and grabbed me eventually. A small scream escaped my lips as I tried to push the guy off of me and I started stabbing the guy, but it didn’t seem to do anything._

_I felt blood on my face after I had heard a loud bang and the guy fell to the ground._   
_“Are you okay miss? Did he bite you?” a thick Irish accent asked. I just stared at the ground for a moment before looking up seeing a man with a gun in his hand._   
_“What the fuck is that!” I yelled as I pointed towards the dead body on the floor._

_“And how on earth did he kept on walking in the condition he was in and I stabbed him?!” I asked confused as hell._   
_“You’ve gotta hit the brain, love. That’s the only way the stay down” he said as he walked closer._   
_“My name’s Ian O’Donnell and what’s yours?” he asked as he was now right in front of me._   
_“Kayleigh Anne Parker” I spoke a bit hesitant as we shook hands._

Ian had let go of me and all I could do was look in surprise at the man standing in front of me.  
“I thought you were dead” he said relieved.  
“Same here” I said a bit confused on how this man was here.  
“Wait, you were in Woodbury?” I asked my brain twirling with theories.

“Yeah, when the Governor said we were going to attack, I stayed behind with Tyreese and Sasha to look after the rest” I listened to him, but my mind was taking over by the look Daryl had on his face when Ian had hugged me. I looked towards the prison entrance Daryl went through and wasn’t paying attention to what Ian was saying to me.

I felt his hand on my shoulder and I looked back towards the Irish guy that saved my life in the beginning of all this.  
“Everything okay, love?” he asked looking worried, I just shook my head.  
“Yeah... I just need to do something right now” I said as I started to walk away backwards.  
“But I promise we are going to catch up okay?” I said hesitant for a second before Ian just nodded and I ran inside the prison.

I needed to find Daryl and explain everything to him right now. Especially when he finally proved me that he cared for me. The prison was filling up with people from Woodbury and in the crowd I was looking for him. First person I came across that I knew was Carol.  
“Please tell me you’ve seen Daryl” I asked a bit desperate. She nodded and pointed towards the direction he had headed.  
“He seemed mad about something though” she said before looking at me again.

“I know, that’s why I need to talk to him” I said before running towards to where Daryl was supposed to be. I ended up in the room where I had followed Rick and Daryl the day Merle died. Daryl sat there smoking a cigarette, not even looking up at me.

“There you are” I said with a small smile on my face.  
“Shouldn’t you be with your boyfriend” he said cranky.  
“I am right now...” I answered and his head shot back up.  
“At least if he wants to be” he looked away and scoffed.

“That other guy seemed pretty glad to see you” he said before taking another drag from his cigarette. I walked towards him and sat parallel to him but my face in his direction.  
“That other guy, knew me from before I got to the farm” I said calmly, deciding that was the best way to go with right now.

I wanted to yell at him for assuming things without hearing an explanation first, but I just didn’t want to fight with him again not after what he showed me yesterday. Daryl looked up at me and I smiled towards him.  
“He saved my life when I got stuck in the traffic jam after I’d lost you and your brother” Daryl looked a bit more relaxed.

“I stayed with him and a few others before we got overrun and I was forced to flee. I thought nobody made it and he probably thought the same thing” I explained further, Daryl just nodded and looked the other way again before putting his cigarette out on the floor next to him.  
“Soo…” I said as I crawled on top of him.  
“Am I yours?” I asked feeling my cheeks get red, while afraid of looking at him.

He placed a hand on my cheek and we made eye contact. He nodded as he pulled me closer, the smell of his cigarette lingered in my nose as our lips met. An uncontrollable giggle escaped my lips and Daryl looked at me a bit confused.  
“What?” he asked not understanding my sudden reaction.

“The big bad redneck is my boyfriend” I said with a grin and he just shook his head.  
“You silly girl” he whispered before kissing me again. The way he spoke those words created butterflies in my stomach. I enjoyed the simple moment we shared right now, but there was one question gnawing my mind right now.

I pulled back and diverted my eyes.  
“What’s up?” he asked and I looked towards him.  
“Is he... Is he dead?” I ask carefully and he shook his head.  
“He disappeared after killing his whole army for not coming back to finish us off. One survived and brought us to Woodbury. We also found Andrea” he leaned his head back and he was looking at his hand that was playing with one of mine.

“She got bit and took her own life” my free hand went to the side of his face and I felt him leaning in to it. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.  
“Don’t worry, we’re gonna find that asshole and end him” he said.  
“That’s not what I worry about” I said softly, not intending it to say it out loud.

His eyes shot open and I felt my face getting red once again.  
“That it would end you too” I admitted.  
“What did I promise you yesterday?” he said a bit stern and I didn’t know what to answer him that moment.  
“I always come back to you. And I’m not about to break that promise” chills went through whole my body and the look we shared got more intense by every word he spoke.

Our lips met once again, but this time like two wild animals. In no time my jacket and hoodie where spread on the floor behind me and I was undoing his shirt.  
“Oh god!” we suddenly heard.  
“I’m sorry..” I heard Glenn’s voice.  
  
“For fuck sake. Have you guys never heard of privacy!” Daryl yelled and I couldn’t help but laugh.  
“Sorry, Rick wanted me to look for you guys” I looked up and saw that Glenn was standing with his back towards us.  
“Yeah, yeah…” Daryl grunted.  
“We’ll be there in a minute” I said in a friendly tone. Glenn left and I got up only to be pulled back into Daryl’s lap.

“They can wait a little longer” he said hungrily and buried his face in my neck. I giggled like a little girl.  
“So can we. This might be important” I said as I got free from his grip and stood back on my feet again.  
“Damn... you’re killing me here woman” he said as he buttoned his shirt back up.

“You’ll get over it” I said playfully as I grabbed my hoodie and jacket.  
“Come one. Besides, you have to thank someone” he looked confused.  
“Someone that is responsible for surviving long enough to get this pretty ass back in your life” I said teasing and he just chuckled and shook his head.

He got up on his feet and walked towards me. He slapped my butt before slinging his arm across my shoulder.  
“And a fine ass it is” he said before planting one last hungry kiss on my lips. He let me go and we walked towards the rest of the group in silence, but a small smile on both our faces.

 

As soon as we had found Rick, he had already informed the rest of the group. For the next couple days it was going to be a small space to give everyone a bed to sleep in. Seeing the only safe cellblock was ours. In no time the whole cellblock was filled with sleeping places and people. Daryl had moved my stuff from the perch and his things in my cell.

Claiming that one for just the two of us. I had also introduced Ian and Daryl to each other and I was curious if they would get along. Almost everyone was asleep and while helping everyone finding a place to rest, I had been talking to Ian. He was telling me his story and I told him mine.  
  
“Damn your group had some rough times, love” he said softly and I just nodded.  
“I’m just glad you survived all of that” he said smiling.  
“Same thing counts for you” I said with a friendly smile. Daryl had been in bed for quite some time now, I had sent him to get some rest while I rounded up the rest here and I told him I would be there in a minute.

It had been more than a minute by now. Ian started to yawn and not long after a yawn escaped from my mouth too.  
“You tired love?” and I just nodded.  
“Plus the fact that I told Daryl I’d be there in a minute and I think it has been an hour by now” we both laughed softly.  
“I’ll see you in the morning” I said smiling before leaving him to get some rest as well.

  
I got in to my cell and as expected Daryl was asleep. He looked so calm right now. I took off my hoodie and my jeans, not bothering to change. I was way too exhausted for that and I just carefully crawled next to Daryl who was lying on his back. I suddenly felt his arm pull me closer towards him and my head was now resting on his chest.  
“That was longer than a minute” he mumbled.  
“I’m sorry” I sweetly said before placing a soft kiss on his cheek. Before I knew it I felt my eyes close and my mind drift off as I felt asleep in the arms of the man I could call mine now.

* * *

 

Two crazy and chaotic weeks had passed since the people from Woodbury had joined us. We had managed to clear out the cellblock the prisoners initially would stay in once again. I for one was very happy about that, making our cellblock less crowded. There had been a couple of runs already, mostly looking for food, which wasn’t much considering the amount of mouths we had to keep fed.

We had a strict rationing plan right now, to stretch out the food we had for as long as possible. Some people objected at first, but understood after seeing how quickly we ran through our stash after just 2 days. There were nearly 40 people now in this prison and the food we had left, and everything that they brought with them back from Woodbury, wouldn’t last that long with this many people.

Daryl and I didn’t have many private moments, seeing as we were either hunting or on runs. Even though Daryl initially didn’t want me to come, he realized that I was one of the few that knew how to survive outside the walls. When it was just the two of us, it was usually in our cell with at least one of us exhausted from the day and sometimes both of us.

Only a handful of the Woodbury residents had been outside the walls since everything happened and since there wasn’t any time to train them to defend themselves, it was decided that only the people with experience would go outside the wall. While the rest of them stayed behind with a few experienced people trying to come up with things to fortify the place and starting to make a safe place for all of us.

Even though we had more downs than ups, I felt confident that this could really work and be something strong. With so many capable hands and different experiences in life, walker related or not, I strongly believed we could build a real community in no time. Which gave me some hope, that as soon as this was stable I could make a solid plan to travel to Fort Benning.

Even though changes were small that my father would still be there, I still needed to make sure. Hell, maybe with my new skill set I could find tracks that would lead to his whereabouts. I haven’t told Daryl this yet, knowing him he would probably tell it would be a suicide run and would do anything in his power to stop me. The first step in my plan was thinking of a way to get him on my side and him helping me.

I felt a bit guilty though, because there was one person that knew about this and Daryl wasn’t his biggest fan. Ian had asked me a couple days ago, if I had ever made to Fort Benning and found my father. Since I told him I was driving towards Fort Benning when I got stuck in the traffic jam where he had found me. Before I knew it I had blurted out what my intentions were.

I had asked him immediately after that not to tell anyone just yet. Even though he didn’t understand why I hadn’t told Daryl or anyone else yet, he promised to keep his mouth shut. I had a little trouble understanding why Daryl didn’t like Ian, he was a good guy and had been a real friend ever since the day he saved my life. Even though we both thought the other was dead, I felt the bond we had back then just as strong from the moment he arrived.

I had told Daryl many times all these things, he still kept his distance from him and kept on eye on me whenever I was alone with him. It brought me back to the time we were on the farm, he had been distant with me at first too. Hell, he was even distant with the rest of the group with whom he had been with since the Atlanta bombing.

I had realized that when it comes to Daryl and new people, he just needed some time to get comfortable with them. My gut told me it had something to do with his past, even though I still didn’t know much about that. I decided to let it go for now, not wanting him to force him into anything he wasn’t ready for, but it still bugged me a bit.

 

Ian had asked me two nights ago what in earth I saw in Daryl and I just laughed at first. Although a little part of me wanted to punch him in the face for thinking in such a negative way about him. The bigger part of me knew that most people would think the same when they would see us together. Especially because I knew what most people think of me when they first meet me. I had surprised many people when they first saw what I was capable of, since most people thought of me as an innocent, fragile girl.

I told him to have patience and that he would see the great man that was behind the rough exterior. The great man that I have known for a while now, the man I fell for. Ian was a bit skeptical since he had witnessed a couple arguments between us during runs. It was mostly about my impulsive actions during those runs or me volunteering to do something risky. I had learned that his reactions where a way of him showing he was worried for me, but I guess not everyone would see it like that.

He stated that it wasn’t healthy for a relationship to have that much raised voices and he thought Daryl’s behavior was out of line most of the time. He felt like Daryl was trying to control me way too much and was a bit worried for what that would mean for his behavior in the future. I had walked out of that conversation after saying Daryl was only trying to keep me safe.

I hadn’t spoken to Ian since and I knew one person that was happy about that. That person was lying next to me, sound asleep. I had been awake for a while, slightly worried, while looking at the man who was softly snoring. I gently pushed a strand of hair, that was in front of his face, aside and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

Today would be the first time Daryl would go on a run and I was staying behind. I volunteered to stay behind, looking out for the people around here and helping with the preparations for the plan we had made for a new fence. That plan would be executed after everyone returned from the run. Even though I wanted nothing more than to be by the side of this man whenever there was danger, I needed to listen to my body for once, not wanted to risk breaking down outside these walls.

I was on my side while Daryl was laying on his side as well, facing each other. A couple of days ago Daryl and I had made the uncomfortable single bunkbeds into a little more comfortable bed for two people, Glenn and Maggie had done the same. I was taking in every detail of his face, thinking about how much different not only his personality but also his looks where compared to the guys I’ve dated before any of this happened.

Wondering where I would be right now if the dead never started roaming around, I would still be in the home I shared with my dad. Wondering if I would be with anyone and what kind of guy that would have been. My eyes slowly starting to close as thoughts where taking over, but where wide open again as soon as Daryl started shifting. He was faced towards the wall now and due to his movement the blanket had shifted as well. Uncovering his torso and every scar visible that covered his back.

I had seen glimpses of them before, but never did I get to see them like this. Normally Daryl was the first to wake up or on some rare occasion I was awake before him as I was locked against his chest. He always kept his back covered with either the blankets or his shirt. Being able to see them all this close gave me a heavy feeling, trying to imagine what this guy has been through to get this many permanent reminders.

It hurt me a little thinking of the pain he must have been through, but also that he still hasn’t told me what that was. He knew everything that I’ve been through and I barely knew anything about his life before we’ve met. I tried to focus on the tattoo that was on his shoulder, but my eyes kept lingering towards the big scars that where dominating his back.

With a little hesitation I reached out a hand towards him, stopping when I was just an inch away. Softly and very carefully I traced one scar with one of my fingers. I immediately pulled my hand back when he started moving again. I waited a minute to make sure he was still asleep before softly moving closer. I started tracing one of his scars again and ended up placing my hand on one of the biggest.

It didn’t take long until I felt his body stiffen under my hand and I knew he was waking up. I noticed he was starting to move slowly, probably wanting to hide himself and I saw his hand reaching for the sheets that was only covering his lower half right now. I placed my hand on the one that just got ahold of the fabric, making him stop what he was doing.

I saw his body stiffen for a second, before it started to move. I quickly moved my hand away from his never leaving his skin before I wrapped my arm underneath his and around his waist. I pulled myself against him not giving him a change to turn around. I softly placed a kiss on the tattoo on his shoulder before resting my head against his skin.

The hand that was resting on his abdomen slowly found his way up and I stopped on his chest right above his heart. I felt that his heartbeat was slowing down a bit and his body slowly relax a bit more under my touch. All the thoughts from before got pushed away, knowing this is the man I want next to me for as long as I live. Someone whose past was dark and filled with hurt, but was still able to let someone in and care for others.

I started kissing his damaged skin softly, wanting him to know that I accepted all of him. I felt his hand grabbing a hold of the one that was on his chest and he kept a firm grip on it. I slowly started going up towards his neck with my lips and ended right behind his ear.  
  
“Goodmorning.. Handsome” I softly whispered and he turned his head a bit trying to look over his shoulder. I pushed myself up a bit, giving him the space to turn on his back. I smiled towards him and he slowly and hesitantly pulled my upper body on top of his. He still had a little discomfort on his face, that he was trying the hide and I noticed he didn’t know what to say right now.

I slowly pushed myself up and softly sat down on top of him. Placing both hands on his abdomen, still with a soft smile on my face.  
“You know, I still want to know what happened to you before we’ve met” I said looking towards my hands while slowly moving both up his body.

“Someday..” I added while my hand had reached his neck and my fingers found their way in his messy hair. Our faces just inches away and I looked directly into his beautiful eyes.  
“Once you’re ready” I whispered against his lips before closing the gap, touching him like I was afraid to break him.  
  
I pulled back and looked him in the eyes again.  
“I promise I won’t judge and you won’t scare me away…” He looked at me, still not knowing what to say or do.  
“Just let me in” I pleaded before kissing him again, with a little more force. His rough hands than made contact with my bare legs and slowly made their way up and squeezed my thighs softly. My grip on his hair tightened as he did that and I felt him come alive underneath me.

His grip on my thighs got stronger just before they wondered up, never leaving my body. One stayed on my lower back while the other traveled farther and tangled with my hair keeping me firmly in place. Our lips parted and I rested my forehead against his, giving him a change to say something. My eyes closed as I felt his breath against my lips.  
“I will..” I heard his raspy barely audible voice, before pulling me back into the kiss.


	28. Everything Turns Black

“Hah! Beat you again!” I said a bit out of breath when Ian and I returned back to the entrance of cellblock C. Both of us were covered in sweat after our morning run. Ever since we build the fence back up, I had made a run in the morning as part of my routine once again. Somewhere along the way Ian started to join me and since I didn’t have any music like I used to in the old world, I really enjoyed the company.

As soon as everyone thankfully came back unharmed from that run I didn’t join, he had apologized for the things he had said. Saying he was out of line and he would trust my feelings about Daryl, but not without mentioning he would hurt Daryl if he ever hurt me. We hadn’t talked about my relationship with Daryl and a month has passed already. The place was really looking like a community to be proud of and more ideas of improvements came every day.

I giggled softly when Ian opened the door for me and bowed.  
“You can be a gentlemen, but I’m never gonna let you win” I said with a grin and I playfully pushed him inside the prison closing the door behind me.  
“You gotta face the fact that I’m faster than you”

He swung his sweaty arm around my shoulders and he sighed a little dramatic.  
“I’m never gonna accept that love, one day I’m gonna beat ya” he said in his thick Irish accent before quickly touching my nose. I pushed him away from me, trying to contain my laughter.  
“I would like to see you try” I said in a competitive tone and taking a fight stance. He took a step closer, when someone scrapping their throat caught our attention.

Both our heads shot in the same direction seeing Daryl leaning against the wall. I lowered my arms and got a huge smile on my face seeing him. Even though he didn’t seem happy at the moment.   
“Good morning you” I said cheerfully.  
“Can we talk?” he said coldly before taking a few steps towards me, and he shot Ian a glare.  
“Alone”

I had one eyebrow raised as I looked between the guys for a split second, before laying my hand on Daryl’s shoulder as soon as he was close enough to touch and he wrapped an arm around my waist.  
“Sure, is something wrong?” I ask calmly. Not really sure what he wanted to talk about, but one thing I was sure of… something was seriously bothering him…

He kept his glare on Ian, apparently waiting for him to leave. After a few seconds of the men intensely glaring at each other. Ian turned his eyes towards me and his serious look made way for a small smile.  
“I’m gonna get ready for the run…”  
“Yeah, you do that” Daryl cut him off and Ian walked away from us.

I softly slapped Daryl on the shoulder before taking a step back, gaining his attention.  
“What the hell was that for?” I asked a bit irritated, when I looked in his eyes I realized what he wanted to talk about.  
“Seriously? This again?” I shook my head and I crossed my arms.  
“I don’t trust the guy.. The way he’s looking at you, when you’re not looking…”

I rolled my eyes and raised my hand to make him stop talking, shaking my head once again.  
“Save it Daryl.. How many times do I need to tell you, we’re just friends”  I said before pushing passed him towards our cell, wanting to get ready for the run. I heard him following close behind me, but I wasn’t about to start this conversation once again.

I walked in the cell and grabbed some more appropriate clothes for the run, instead of the shorts and sports top I was wearing now. Before I got a chance to change, I felt a hand around my upper arm spinning me around.  
“That guy isn’t just after friendship” he said irritated and I just sighed.  
“You really start to sound like a broken record, Daryl”

I freed myself from his grip again and started to change my clothes quickly. I saw from the corners of my eyes, that Daryl was trying really hard to remain calm while his breathing got heavier.  
“Can you at least cover up more when you’re alone with him?” I heard him asking, hearing the undertone that wanted to order it. I turned around confusion all over my face.  
“That way he has less to stare at” I shook my head once again.  
 “I wear whatever the fuck I want, no matter whom I’m with.” I said before throwing my bag on the bed to get my weapons.

“It’s either that or you stop being alone with that guy!” he said more stern this time, started to lose his patience.  
“Excuse me?!” I said appalled with the ultimatum he just gave me.  
“You heard me” he said crossing his arms and I scoffed.  
“And what makes you think you can decide that for me. Last time I checked you don’t own me!” I said irritation slowly turning into anger, just like him, but still trying to keep my voice down so the rest of the cellblock wouldn’t hear another argument between me and my so called boyfriend.

“I don’t want him close to you wrapping his arm around you, touching your bare skin.. Hell I don’t even want the guy near you when someone I DO trust is with you” I kept shaking my head while he spoke, not looking him in the eyes.  
“We.. Are.. Friends” I spat.  
“I don’t even see him as anything else.. For Christ sake Daryl.. Don’t you trust me?! Even after all this time? After everything we’ve been through?!” my voice slowly getting a little louder.

“It’s not like that.. I don’t trust him” he said taking a step closer, anger written all over his face and I scoffed once again nodding my head.  
“Fine.. wanna play it like that…” I said looking at him, anger on my face as well and he took a step back wanting to walk away.  
“I don’t want you close to Carol then” I said crossing my arms. In one swift move he had turned back towards me and he lost control of his anger.

“What?!” he yelled, coming closer towards me again, our bodies just inches apart.  
“What does she have anything to do with this?!” his voice still raised.  
“I don’t like the way she looks at you” I said mimicking his stance when he told me the same thing about Ian.  
“That’s totally different and you know it!” he yelled before starting to pace in the small cell.

“Oh come on Daryl… she’s totally into you and you have to be completely blind not to see that” he just shot me a glare.  
“She’s obviously flirting with you, always staring at you when she gets the chance. She even has this ridiculous nickname for you… Pookie.. like what the fuck?!” my voice louder by the word, not caring anymore since everyone has heard it by now.  
“Where the fuck is this coming from all of the sudden? You know that’s not true!” he shouted stopping his pacing for a moment.

“I’ve seen this for a long time now Daryl, but I never said anything. Because I fucking trust you!! Something you apparently don’t understand” I said, as my voice started cracking and my eyes burning slightly.  
“How many times do I need to tell you, it’s not that I don’t trust you?!” he yelled standing in front of me.  
“Well you have a poor way of showing it! Since you still won’t believe me when I say that there is nothing between me and Ian” I said taking a step back, trying to hold back the tears.  
  
“It hurts you know.. the way you’re making me feel right now” shaking my head and grabbing my weapons. I saw his body relax a bit and his face soften. He shook his head and looked at the ground.  
“Don’t act like that” he mumbled, his eyes glued to the ground.  
“Act like what Daryl?!” I yelled and he looked at me.  
“Act like a fucking human being with feelings?!” the first tears streamed down my face.

He didn’t know what to say as he took a step towards me, his arms reaching for me. I slapped them away.  
“Don’t touch me!” I shouted and he froze on the spot.  
“What the hell are we doing here if you can’t trust me? Believe me when I say that nothing is going on?” I pushed myself passed him, not looking him in the eyes.  
“Just leave me alone for now!” I yelled before slamming the cell door shut behind me, the sound echoing throughout the whole block.  
  
I felt people staring at me and I know that everyone around here heard what just had been said between us. I kept my eyes on the ground, quickly looking for a quiet place to gear up and calm down before going on this big run. We had planned to go a little further this time, expending our options to scavenge more supplies. Something I didn’t care much about at this moment, not after the fight I just had with Daryl…

 

 

I had no idea how long I’ve been on my own, before walking outside and seeing everyone waiting for me by the vehicles. Rick, Glenn and Maggie standing by one of the cars. Ian, Carol and Jackson by the other. And then there was Daryl sitting on his motorcycle as usual. My choice of vehicle was easily made..

Daryl was definitely not an option right now. My gut told me Maggie couldn’t keep her mouth shut as soon as we drove off and before I knew it I would have three people questioning me about what had happened. The last car was the obvious choice, Carol was probably a bit pissed for the accusations I made about her, Ian wouldn’t be stupid enough the bring it up when there were other people around and Jackson probably didn’t even care.

I passed Daryl first not even giving him a glance, I passed a slightly surprised trio at the first car and I walked towards the passenger’s seat of the last car. “Sorry I’m late guys. Let’s go!” I yelled before getting in. I saw that everyone was a bit confused at the moment and I was playing with my bow that I had between my legs waiting for the rest to get in to the car and we would leave.

 

Like I had predicted, the car ride was nice and quiet in the beginning. Ian and Carol sat in the back, both staring out the windows and Jackson was driving. Jackson was one of the people from Woodbury, at the time of the attack he had sprained his ankle so that’s why he had stayed behind. It was a nice guy, with an ego that was a little too big for his own good. Flirting with almost every female that came in sight, talking big stories about his runs with the Governor.

I almost kick his ass when I caught him coming on to Beth a little too strong, but after a warning and some threats the flirting stopped. After that it was real casual between us all whenever he joined us on runs. Still the guy meant well, he just wasn’t very bright. I stared out of the window as well enjoying the silence so I could think about the situation between me and Daryl. After a little while the other three passengers in the car had started some light conversation, mostly about the way Jackson drove. I had tuned out after some while, with one big question shouting in my head after the events today.

Were the feelings I had for Daryl real? Or was it just something my mind had told itself because of the situation the world was in right now. Because let’s face facts here.. Humanity was on the brink of extinction and the change of love in this world was getting smaller by the day. Perhaps my mind was protecting me from being and feeling alone in a cold world like this. One thing I knew for sure..

If a guy would have talked to me the way Daryl spoke to me this morning in the old world, he would be forcefully kicked out of my house and warned not to show his face ever again if he wanted to keep it intact.  
That’s why it confused me so much, why did I accept everything that man told me? Why didn’t I just tell him to fuck off and find someone else to control?

Why was my heart giving in so easily with him and why was it so forgiving? I thought back to the argument I had with Ian about Daryl and started to wonder if perhaps he was right. Maybe Daryl and I were not meant to be together, but it was just my body convincing me that it was, so I wouldn’t have to deal with everything that happened alone.

I wouldn’t be completely alone if I didn’t have a relationship with Daryl. Hell, everyone from Atlanta felt like one big family and I started to bond with more people from Woodbury every day. But still... that wouldn’t be the same as having a partner next to you in those long and scary nights. Someone that comforted you without everybody seeing that you struggled with the events of that day.

So the big question remained, was Daryl that someone for me...  
Or was he just someone to keep close to prevent loneliness...

 

 

I noticed the car was slowly coming to a stop and I saw that we had reached our destination. Some people back at the prison had talked about this place, it was an older warehouse that was getting ready for a reopening after a new company had bought the place. It was getting ready for the advertising stage when everything started. Just like the others, I slowly got out of the car scanning the area.

Like planned we started to search the area first and surprisingly the place seemed pretty intact. With the exception of one window that was boarded up from the inside. So chances were that whoever did that, was still inside, alive or not. We had gathered at that window to discuss the next step.

It didn’t take long to decide that two would stay outside and keep a look out for any incoming danger. While the rest went inside, split up in pairs and gathered as much as there was left. Ian and Glenn volunteered to stay outside, while Rick and Daryl were removing a couple boards so there was a way in for us. The rest stayed on watch while the guys were busy, seeing it was a job you couldn’t do silent.

As soon as there was a hole big enough for us to get in and out with ease, we waited just a moment to make sure there wasn’t a herd of walkers inside. Minutes had passed and still nothing so we decided it was time for us to go in. It didn’t take us long to find the person responsible for boarding up the window. The corpse of a man laid on the ground against the wall that was covered with his blood and pieces of his brain.

The smell was horrible and it immediately brought me back to the cabin were Daryl and I had found that old man. My stomach remembered as well, I was getting nauseous and I leaned forwards trying to keep it down.  
“Everything alright Kayleigh?” I heard Rick said as I felt his hand on my back.  
“Yeah, just trying to keep my breakfast down, that’s all” I said slowly standing straight again and turning away from the rotting corpse.

My eyes met Daryl’s and I saw him holding back a laughter. He was probably thinking about the cabin as well.  
“Okay, let’s split up and get out of here as quickly as possible” Rick ordered in a hushed tone. You can never be too careful lately.  
  
A small part of me was thankful that Maggie immediately stood next to me, but the bigger part was afraid of the interrogation I would receive as soon as we were alone. Daryl and Rick paired up and Carol and Jackson. We all made some last agreements to only take things we needed most and we could fit in the two cars. If there were bigger things we could use, we would come back tomorrow with more vehicles. We also agreed on the parts of the store each team would search. We all had a flashlight ready and a knife just in case.  
“Watch each others back and be careful” were Rick’s last words before we all went our own way.

 

I was pushing a shopping cart while Maggie walked next to me with the flashlight looking at the shelves. We had started in the clothing isle and were looking for anything between this and that to see if it would be useful. Maggie was awfully quiet and I just knew she had questions burning up inside. I stopped the cart and that caught her attention.  
  
“Okay, spill it... this silence is killing me” I whispered, knowing the rest couldn’t be too far away from us. She looked at me for a second, probably thinking about what to ask first.  
“What happened this morning?” she asked and I just sighed while looking through some piles of clothes before throwing some warm sweaters in the cart.  
“You tell me... Daryl seems to believe that Ian is trying to steal me away from him or something” I avoided eye contact with the brunette for now.

“Oh that guy definitely has a thing for you” she blurted out while she stood next to me looking through the racks and her reaction made me sigh once again.  
“Not you too” I said sounding a little disappointed. She grabbed my hand and I looked at her.  
“But I don’t believe he will act on it as long as you’re with Daryl” and I just nodded.

“But what I understood is that he is not the only one with some jealousy issues” she said hinting towards the words I spoke about Carol and I looked towards our hands.  
“I never meant to say those things, it just came out in the heat of the moment. I don’t even know if it’s true” I felt her squeeze my hand softly making me look up towards her.  
“But there are some suspicions or you wouldn’t think that in the first place, right?”

I pulled my hand out of her grip and started going through some racks.  
“I don’t know... It’s just they seem so close and something tells me that he probably opens up more to her than to me. I don’t know if it’s true… but it’s not helping that I still know hardly anything about that man, even after all this time” I wasn’t even looking at the clothing anymore and I just threw some shirts in the cart as well.

I started walking a little bit further with the cart, looking around me for other things that might come in handy.  
“You wanna know what I think?” she asked politely and I just shrugged.  
“Sure” I said without looking back towards her.  
“Be patient just a little longer, judging on how he has been the last couple months, this isn’t easy for him either”

“I don’t know how long I can keep this up Maggie, all this is slowly driving me insane” I said standing still hearing her go through some more racks.  
“And the next time he wants to argue about another man, just take off your clothes and he will shut up soon enough” she said giggling.  
“I was in the middle of changing this morning, I was practically naked when he started… besides we would only get disturbed anyway... That’s just our luck...” I muttered the last part while playing with my knife leaning against the cart.

“Whooah… Are you telling me that after all this time you still didn’t have sex?” Maggie blurted out a little bit louder than she meant to do. I turned around a bit irritated.  
“Keep it down will ya!” I whispered sternly, while Maggie covered her mouth for a moment.  
“No wonder the two of you fight so much... you’re both sexually frustrated like a couple of teenagers” she said trying to contain her laughter.  
“Or are you one of those no sex before marriage girls? I don’t judge but if so... give it up, you don’t wanna die a virgin in this world”

I just shook my head at everything Maggie just said.  
“Not a virgin, just a lot of interruptions... One time even by your boyfriend” I said before turning back towards the cart.  
“But can we talk about this another time and focus here? Besides I need to think things through before I think about that stuff again”

I heard her go through more racks and I turn back towards her when I heard her mumble something about size.  
“What the hell are you talking about?” I said and that’s when she held out a black and red laced baby doll with a matching thong and garter in front of me.  
“I bet he will shut up when he sees you in this” she said with a playful grin on her face and I immediately pushed her hands down.  
“Are you insane? And did you even hear what I just said?” I asked trying to keep my voice down.

“Oh stop being such a dramaqueen and just do it already” she said rolling her eyes and she turned me around opening the backpack I was wearing and stuffed the lingerie in it. I struggled a bit and turned back towards her.  
  
“I promise if this won’t solve your problems, you can punch me in the face and say ‘I told you so’. And to make it easier I will even help you set it up making sure that there won’t be any interruptions” she said smiling and I just sighed knowing I wasn’t going to win this from her.  
“Fine” I grunted and she wrapped her arms around me.  
“Good girl, now let’s continue this scavenge so we can start planning your naughty time with Daryl” I rolled my eyes and we went back to what we came here to do.

 

After a while we all gathered at our beginning point looking at what we all gathered. We had really hit a small jackpot here when it came to food, clothing, blankets and we even scored some batteries. We also took the gun the guy had used to blow his own brain out. We all stuffed our backpacks to the max with most of it and started loading the cars.  
“Let’s hope we have more days like this” Rick said when the last of the stuff was put in the car.

I had taken off my bow and placed it along with my quiver in the back of the car in between some of the blankets. Seeing no urge to have it with me in the car since I had my knives on me and if needed it could be retrieved from the backseat. I sat down on the passenger’s seat and slit it slightly back so I would have more leg space. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes for a minute, trying to relax a bit and hoping I could clear my mind for now.

Everyone is the car was excited about all the things we found and the vibe in the car was relaxed. I kept my eyes in front of looking at the other car and Daryl was in the lead. The conversations in the car got louder and louder, well mostly Jackson’s voice. I was happy about the results from this day as well, but I just had too many thoughts running through my head right now.  
“Everything okay Kayleigh?” I looked to the side and saw Jackson looking at me and I just nodded.  
“Yeah just a little tired. Nothing to worry about” and he just nodded back before turning his eyes on the road, continuing talking to Ian and Carol.

Then out of nowhere there was a loud bang and the car started to sway uncontrollably. I shot up hearing a small scream from behind me coming from Carol. To my side I saw that Jackson was doing everything he could to gain control over the vehicle again. I looked towards the road and that’s when I noticed a hole in the road right in front of us.  
“Watch out!” I yelled in panic and time seemed to stop for a moment right before the car went flying through the air.

I heard all kinds of screams around me and one of them was probably mine. The car hit the ground again and started to flip. I felt my body getting thrown all over the place, but thanks to the seatbelt I stayed in my seat. Caused by the speed of the crash everything turned blurry. My body slung forward and my head hit the dashboard.

That’s went everything went black…


	29. It's Gonna be okay, It's Gonna Be Okay..

I was leaning against the counter of my kitchen looking at the microwave, waiting patiently for the sound that would tell me the popcorn was ready. I heard two familiar voices yelling at the TV and I couldn’t help but smile. I looked out of the window for a second enjoying the view this beautiful summer day gave me. Children playing outside, the sky filled with birds and here inside the house were the two most important men in my life. Today was a good day.

I looked up excited when the microwave was done and I immediately took out the bag. Shaking the popcorn while humming a tune I walked back towards the counter and poured the popcorn in the bag.  
“Don’t forget the beers!” I heard coming from the living room and I just shook my head.  
“Nah I think you had enough!” I yelled sarcastically while grabbing three cold ones out of the fridge. With my arms stuffed with the bottles and the bowl I made my way back to the living room.

A big smile appeared on my face seeing my dad and Daryl on the couch, eyes glued to the television.  
“Come on dude!! Fight back!” Daryl yelled before finishing the beer that was in his hand. My dad nudged him and pointed towards me.  
“You should have seen her, when she still competing. She was ruthless in the cage” seeing the proud smile on his face and the enjoyment on Daryl’s made me blush a little.

“Yeah I had seen a glimpse of her skillset once… throwing my brother to the ground the night we met in the bar” Both men started laughing.  
“That’s my girl” My dad stated, the proud grin still plastered on his face. I walked towards the couch and placed the bowl and the three bottles on the coffee table. I let myself fall down in between them and looked at the MMA match on the screen.

“So what did I miss?” I ask before grabbing a bottle and grabbing a handful of popcorn.  
“Nothing spectacular” my dad said grabbing a beer for himself as well.  
“Still, it’s a shame you never made a career out of this, Little Red” he said while nudging me in de shoulder.  
“I had to make a choice Dad and couldn’t keep fighting in the ring if I wanted to help children” I shrugged.

“I know... I know... Still, you were so good” he said taking a sip of his beer and turning his attention back to the screen. I felt an arm around my waist pulling me towards someone and I immediately leaned my head against Daryl’s shoulder. A smile once again on my face, life was good right now.  
“So any plans for dinner?” Daryl asked after a while.  
I looked towards my dad and he was grinning just like me. “Pizza!!” we yelled in unison, before bursting out in laughter. I heard the other man next to me sigh as if he had just asked to stupidest question ever.

“I forgot, pizza and beer night on the first day back” he said chuckling.  
“Yeah and since this is the first time you join us... “ I said looking towards my dad.  
“We’ve decided that you get to pick the movie for the night” he finished.  
“Just one condition... it has to be bloody” I said looking up at him.  
“And hilarious” my dad added.  
“And bad” I continued and Daryl just shook his head.  
“Dawn of the dead it is” He muttered and my dad and I cheered out loud.  
“You sir, have passed the test and are accepted in this weird ass small family,” my dad said before raising his bottle towards him and we all laughed.

We all went back to watching the match and the guys started yelling at the screen once again. Slowly everything around me started to become lighter and the yelling sounded like it came from outside. Then I heard my name and I looked up towards Daryl and he kept saying my name. I tried answering him, but nothing came out of my mouth. Then I noticed his voice was changing and his accent slowly started to sound Irish. I sat up and looked at him confused.

I felt something trickle down my forehead and I felt a pressure on my legs and against my lower abdomen. Everything started to fade around me and then all there was left was a male voice shouting my name. The voice sounded urgent and concerned while it got louder and louder.  
My world was spinning and I started blinking hoping I would get my vision back. Suddenly all the white turned black and the pressure was hurting me. My head hurt pretty bad and my body felt sore. The voice was still there and I started to recognize it. I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn’t... I opened my mouth and I felt relieved when I heard my own voice softly.  
“Ian?”

I heard a sigh of relieve coming from behind me, but I didn’t know where I was or what happened that would make him yell my name so much.  
“What… What happened?” I said feeling weaker by the second, still fighting to open my eyes. Finally they opened, but everything was blurry. I slowly moved my head, hoping I could figure out where I was.  
“We crashed” I heard behind me. While my vision was still recovering I felt that I wasn’t sitting, I was hanging.

My arms above my head, I felt that I was kept in place by the seatbelt and something else. Something that was still putting pressure on my waist and legs. I blinked a couple of times hoping it would help me to see everything again. After some tries everything became clearer and my breath got stuck in my throat with the first thing I saw.  
Jackson.

His brown eyes wide open and blood dripping out of his mouth. I noticed that his eyes were paler than the usual bright brown color it used to be. My eyes traveled down his body and I saw that a wooden beam had ripped open his stomach. His guts spilled all over the wood and blood was dripping everywhere. I heard Ian say something behind me, but I couldn’t figure out what he was saying. I was completely shocked with the view I had in front of me right now.

Slowly I followed the blood-smeared beam and my breathing stopped again for a second seeing his arm stuck between the beam and the armrest. I continued to follow it and I saw where the pressure came from. The beam had just missed my stomach and was stuck in the door. With the result that the piece of wood was on top of my upper legs and with the position I was in, I was pressed against it.

“Kayleigh?! Say something! Is Jackson passed out?!” the panic in his voice brought me back to the real world.  
“He’s… He’s dead..” I said as I tried to reach for my knives.  
“Oh god... “  
“What about… What about Carol?” I asked trying to keep my mind occupied hoping I could remain calm.

He started rambling on about how she was passed out, but he couldn’t see any major injuries. He kept going on and on about everything that had happened and how the first thought that he had was that he was the only survivor. I kept trying for my knives, but realized that they were stuck underneath the beam.  
“Ian…” I said calmly, but he kept talking and I repeated his name.

“Ian…”  
He still went on and I felt fear creeping over.  
“IAN!!” I yelled and he finally stopped talking.  
“I can’t reach my knives” I said trying to remain calm, but it was getting harder by the second.  
“It’s okay, the other must have seen what happened… and I’m sure they’re on their way” he said, probably in an attempt to calm me down.  
“We have to remain calm” he said and I snapped.  
“IAN! We’re hanging upside down in a crashed car, with a chance that this thing can explode any second. And to make matters worse there is a dead man hanging next to me and I have nothing to stab him with!” I yelled.  
“How in the hell can I remain calm! When any second now Jackson comes back to kill me!! So please tell me you have your knife with you or anything sharp for that matter”

“I don’t...” With those words my breath got shallow and I started to look around frantically for something I could use to defend myself. My head shot to the side when I heard a grunting noise, noticing Jackson’s head was slowly starting to move.  
“IAN!!” I yelled in panic and I heard him move around. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Jackson and panic took over my body.

“I can’t reach Carol’s gun” I heard him say.  
“Oh crap” I muttered, while Jackson was starting to move more and more. Suddenly I see Ian’s arms around Jackson’s neck grabbing the seatbelt and pulling it under his jaw and firm against the headrest.  
“Help is on its way, I know it…I won’t let go until they get here! Hold on!” I heard him say, but it still didn’t change the fact that we were all stuck upside down in a car...  
With a walker...

Screams left my mouth and I couldn’t make myself stop as I saw Jackson’s other arm trying to reach for me. I pushed my body away as far as possible and hoped it would be enough so he couldn’t grab me. Tears were flowing out of my eyes as my heartbeat raced and I felt it harder to breath. Between my hectic breaths, I heard Ian’s voice trying to calm me down, but it didn’t reach me.

All I saw were images off Jackson eating me alive while the space in the car got smaller by the second. My body trembled as it was losing strength to keep me as far away as possible from the reaching walker arm. In between the horrifying images a familiar face popped up every now and then. Daryl’s face...

I heard glass shattering behind me and familiar voices outside the car, but I still couldn’t hear what actually was being said. My eyes glued on the snapping jaw of Jackson and his arm. More glass shattered, this time behind Jackson’s head and suddenly his head froze. His head dropped and I saw Rick’s face appearing.  
“Are you okay?” he yelled and I frantically shook my head.

“I’m stuck!” I cried out and I saw Rick look inside the car. He disappeared and panic took over once again. Fear of being left alone. “Get this beam out now!!” I heard him yell and my attention was drawn to my right. I felt pieces of glass hit my face and I saw a face I had been seeing in my mind.  
“I’m stuck” I said softly, still crying and I felt his hand touch my cheek for a second.

“You’re gonna be okay... hold on” as soon as I felt his hand leave my skin, I felt like I was suffocating. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I started to move frantically, afraid it was Jackson.  
“The’re gonna remove the beam Kayleigh, everything will be fine” I heard Ian say, but it just felt so unreal. I shut my eyes and tried to gain control of my breathing, but I just couldn’t.

“Can’t breathe” I cried out over and over again. Out of nowhere the pressure on my legs disappeared and a scream escaped my mouth once again.  
“Kayleigh!” I looked to my right and Daryl was there again.  
“I need you to sit still for me okay?” he said calmly and I just nodded, while my body kept trembling. He looked outside the car for a moment.  
“Glenn, Rick get Ian and Carol. Maggie get on the other side of Kayleigh! Her foot is stuck”  
When Daryl had said that, I started to feel what he was talking about. It didn’t hurt much, but I couldn’t move my left leg. I saw Daryl’s face close again and he placed a hand on my cheek again.

“Breathe” he whispered and I nodded once again, trying to focus on my breathing while looking him in the eyes. My body froze for a moment when I felt a hand on my upper leg. I looked towards the touch and saw that Maggie had crawled into the car over Jackson’s corpse.  
“You’ll get out of here” she said smiling and looked back to Daryl whom had a knife ready in his other hand.  
“Okay, she’s loose” I heard and saw Daryl nod.

“I’m gonna cut the seatbelt now.. So place your hands on the rooftop and push okay” he said still in his calm voice and I just did as he asked. My arms trembled as I waited for the moment that my body would fall. The moment came and after that everything went too fast for me to register it. Next thing I know I was being pulled out through the window.  
I sat on the cold forest ground in between Daryl’s legs, my back against his chest and his arms wrapped around me tightly. He rocked me back and forth and I finally felt all the fear and panic disappear slowly. Tears still streaming down and still out of breath, I listened to his calming voice.  
“It’s okay now, you’re safe.”

I looked around and through my tear soaked eyes I saw Ian and Carol safely out of the car. Carol had gained conscious again and sat against a tree with Rick checking up on her. Ian and Maggie were salvaging everything they could from the car, while Glenn kept an eye out for any oncoming dangers. I felt that the streams of tears were drying up and that there were no new ones coming out of my eyes. I looked towards the car and I felt a strange sense of luck all of a sudden.

Sure, we had lost Jackson, but looking at the wreckage it was pretty much a miracle that still the rest of us survived.  
“We should get out of here, before we get company” I heard whispering in my ear and I looked over my shoulder towards Daryl and nodded.  
“You think you can stand?” he asked and I hesitantly nodded, because honestly I wasn’t sure.

Daryl got up first and helped me get of the ground. My legs were a bit wobbly and I felt Daryl hold me for a few seconds so I could get balanced. I carefully tried a few steps, with Daryl by my side supporting me. We had reached the tree Carol was sitting against and Rick was helping her back on her feet. Maggie and Ian were carrying the supplies that they saved and Glenn was in the lead with a gun and a knife at the ready.

We had reached the two remaining vehicles and the stuff were loaded. Carol was put in the backseat of the car, since she felt lightheaded again. Ian walked towards me and Daryl and I just knew what he wanted to offer.  
“I’ll ride with Daryl” I said before he could even open his mouth.  
“You sure?” he asked and I nodded.  
“Just keep an eye on Carol, we don’t know if she hit her head or anything” and he just nodded before walking towards the car.

“You really sure you’re up for it? It’s not that I don’t prefer you over him with me, but I...” before he could finish the sentence I pressed my lips on his really quick.  
“I’m sure, I need you close” I said with a small smile and he just nodded.  
“Besides, I think it’s best for me to stay awake until Hershel can check on me. And that is a lot easier on the back of a bike” He nodded once again and guided me towards his motorcycle.  
After we all were ready, we left and I saw in the corner of my eye that we were just in time. I saw multiple walkers coming from the edge of the forest where the car wreckage was. Before they could even get closer, I felt the bike under me come to life and move away from them. I had my arms wrapped around Daryl pretty tight and I leaned my head against his shoulder.

Now that everything that just had happened was sinking in and the panic and fear were finally gone I started to feel the damage to my body. My head was pounding like crazy and felt really heavy. My neck a little painful, legs sore as hell and I felt a little ache in my left ankle. I was pretty sure the beam in combination with my knives had created pretty bad bruises on my upper legs and I just hoped that was all that they had done. The spot on my right thigh I had been shot before felt sore again too and I just hoped this crash didn’t jeopardize anything I would be back to normal in a few days.

My eyelids felt heavy and my body was willing to give in. My grip on Daryl loosened a bit and almost immediately I felt one of his hand grab a hold on one of mine.  
“Stay with me” he said while he squeezed my hand. I nodded against his back, but still I was so temped to give in and close my eyes.  
“Talk to me... What happened? Or what you’re thinking right now? Anything is okay... Just talk to me so I know you’re awake”

“I don’t know what exactly happened, everything seemed okay when suddenly we heard a loud bang and Jackson lost control of the car...” I felt a lump starting to form in my throat thinking about Jackson and all I could see was his changed, dead face.  
“Everything went black pretty fast, I think I hit my head pretty hard…” my body started to tremble again and my breath hitched in my throat.  
“I’m just glad we were there in time” I heard him say while he squeezed my hand once again.  
“Me too”

 

The rest of the ride towards the prison, Daryl kept asking me things that he already knew about, my past and about some things we had been through. Probably not only to keep me awake, but also to check if there was anything wrong with my memory. It helped though, even though my eyelids still felt heavy and I was exhausted. It kept me awake, because he never let me be quiet for long.

I saw the familiar grounds that surrounded the prison and I felt relieved that we had made it. Once we were all back behind the safety of the fences it didn’t take long for everyone to gather around us, shocked by the looks of some of us, the missing vehicle and the missing person. Everyone started to fire questions towards us about what happened and all this around me was overwhelming me. I slowly got of the bike while using Daryl as support.

There were some people coming towards me, asking me all kinds of things, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying and I felt I was getting really lightheaded by now. Before my legs could give in I felt two strong arms around me.  
“Give her some space” I heard Daryl spat in an angry tone. He picked me up and carried me in the prison. I was put down on one of de benches and soon Hershel was standing in front of me.

He was looking me over, while I heard more people coming in. I looked to the side and saw Carol being guided in by Glenn and Beth and Ian walked next to Maggie.  
“Why don’t you bring her to your cell and get her cleaned up a bit, so I can have a better look at her” Hershel said and before I could respond Daryl already picked me up and brought me towards our cell.

He sat me down on our bed and kneeled in front of me. He placed a hand on the side of my face.  
“I’m gonna get some rags and water, I’ll be right back okay?” and I nodded, but he kept looking at me as if he was waiting on something.  
“Okay” I said nodding again and that’s when he got up and left me alone. I looked around at the familiar walls and after being stuck in that car this suddenly felt so much bigger than it used to.

While waiting for Daryl to return, I had decided to get out of these dirty clothes. I grabbed the hem of my shirt and it felt wet. After pulling it of my head, which didn’t go as smooth as I thought it would go, I saw my hands were red. My hands started to tremble again and the shirt felt out of my hands. I looked at my upper legs and saw that my jeans and my knives and its holsters where stained with blood.  
All of a sudden all those feelings of panic and fear came rushing back as I saw everything in front of me again. Tears were burning in my eyes once again and a scream escaped my lips while I couldn’t take my eyes off of my hands. Suddenly Daryl’s face was in front of me again, worry spread all over his face.  
“What’s wrong?” I tried to speak, but nothing was coming out. I looked at my trembling hands again and I held them up towards Daryl.

“Jackson’s…” I got out barely audible and he grabbed my hands. I heard footsteps coming closer and I looked up and saw Maggie standing in the door opening.  
“I heard a scream” she said in panic and I saw her looking at me.  
“It’s... it’s everywhere...” I said in between sobs and she came closer.

I looked back at Daryl who had squeezed my hands softly.  
“Let’s get you of these clothes, okay?” he said softly and I nodded, trying to calm down. Maggie sat down next to me and grabbed the bottle of water and the rag Daryl had dropped and started to clean my head. While Daryl started to take my knives off so he could take my jeans off as well.

After they both were done cleaning me, Daryl put one of his shirts on me so I wouldn’t be in just my underwear. Daryl sat down next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.  
“I’m gonna check if my father is done with Carol, okay? I will be right back with him” I heard Maggie say while she smiled towards me.  
“T-Thank you” I said with a trembling voice. I leaned in towards Daryl as Maggie left the cell and he softly kissed the side of my head.  
“Everything gonna be okay, I promise”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys!!
> 
> Sorry this chapter was a little shorter than the previous ones.   
> The thing is, I ran out of prewritten chapters. 
> 
> So I had to finish this within a week, since I didn't want to leave you guys hanging after the big cliffhanger I gave you last week.
> 
> But this also means that I can't garantee a new chapter every monday. I hope you guys understand and I'll always try to update as frequently as possible!
> 
> Please stay with me! I can ensure you all that this story WILL continue!!


	30. Heaven and Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains smut, if you're not into that.. then skip the part in between: // .. //

I gasped for air as my body flung up. My skin felt like it was on fire with sweat dripping everywhere while I was shivering like I was in the coldest room ever. My arms found their way around my own upper body in an attempt to keep myself whole, feeling like I was going to burst out of my own skin being overwhelmed by all these emotions.   
Since the car accident last week I’ve been haunted with terrifying images every night. Reliving every moment that I have witnessed someone die from my new family. Every night it has been the same and falling asleep after those nightmares was pretty much impossible. 

It started out with the images of the innocent young Sophia in the middle of the forest, slowly turning into a walker while crying and screaming why I couldn’t have done a better job protecting her. Before her walker hands could grab me I found myself roaming around in an open field. Only to be stopped by a hand desperately grabbing my ankle. A ripped open Dale looking up at me, blood dripping out of his mouth while he tried to speak to me.

All I wanted to do was kneel down next to him and give him some comfort while he would let out his last breath. I just stood there looking down at him, looking at him while a walker kept on eating him alive. A loud bang was next, followed by a bright white light and the last thing I saw were Dale’s lifeless eyes staring back at me, blood dripping in between them from the gunshot wound.

As the white light disappeared, I felt myself hanging upside down with the grabbing arms of a reanimated Jackson next to me. It was just the two of us in the car that was starting to engulf in flames. His bloodthirsty fingers wrapping around my neck, trying to squeeze the life out of me. White light slowly taking over again until it was completely surrounding me. 

Frozen to the ground I looked at all the walkers coming towards me from every direction, leaving no way of escaping. Every walker that came close wore the face of someone I knew from before and after all of this started. Two of them closer than the others, grabbing an arm each. My Dad on my right side and Daryl of the left. While closing the space between my skin and their mouths was usually the time I woke up.

My breath was irregular and my heart was almost bursting out of my chest. I felt the tears streaming down my face as I bit my lip in an attempt not to scream from the top of my lungs. Even though I’ve seen these images in my sleep for the past week, the feelings stayed the same. It felt like a tornado of emotions hit me all at once. 

With one of them dominating all the others…  
Fear..

The kind of fear that settled deep inside your skin, filling every fiber in your body as all the things you are scared of the most are surrounding you all at once. Hope of everything disappearing nowhere to be found as the feeling of suffocation is slowly creeping over. 

One of my arms left my body as my hand searched desperately to feel something real, something other than fear. My heart skipped a beat and my breath got stuck in my throat again as I felt nothing. I slowly looked towards my left and saw that the bed apart from me was empty. I frantically started to feel the matrass for any sign of warmth, but everything felt cold. 

I looked around the small cell and saw nothing but darkness. A wave of pure panic joined the fear that was drowning me and my breathing got even shallower. I pulled my legs up close to my body, leaning my forehead against my knees as my hands went up and my fingers tangled with my hair. I pulled at my hair, as I fought my hardest not to scream. 

I jumped up from the bed and my bare feet hitting the cold floor sent chills all over my body. I searched my bag for my knives, I wasn’t even sure why. I had found one and I tightened the hold when I saw that my body was trembling so much that it almost fell out of my hand. As I looked down at my hands shaking like crazy, my eyes got drawn towards my top. 

It was soaked and slowly the darkness made it look like it was soaked in blood. I heard something behind me and immediately turned around. There in the opening of the cell stood a slightly panting Daryl with worry written all over his face. The sound of my knife hitting the concrete floor rang through my ears as I felt my legs give in. 

Before I could hit the floor just like my knife, I felt his arms around me. My hand immediately reached out for him, needing to feel him under my fingertips. Needing the confirmation that he was real and not just a dream. One hand stopped right above his heart and when I felt his heartbeat a sigh of relieve escaped my lips. I looked up as soon as I heard his voice.

“… You’re soaked” Where the only words my mind had registered. My head shot up when I heard a second voice.  
“I heard a scream! Is everything okay?!” a worried Maggie entered the cell. My head spun a bit, she heard a scream? Did I scream? When did I scream? I thought I held back the screams that I wanted to let out.   
Both of them helped me back on the bed, Maggie sat next to me with an arm around me and Daryl squatted in front of me and laid his hands on my knees.   
“What happened?” I heard Maggie ask, I just looked at Daryl’s fingers making circles on my skin. Feeling his touch so soft and tender reassured me once more that I was in the real world. 

“I don’t know, I went for a piss and she was still sound asleep when I left. After I heard her scream I found her just standing in the cell with her knife in her hand.” Daryl’s voice sounded so soothing in my ears right now. Slowly the rollercoaster of emotions faded and I felt my body calming down. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, trying to get it steady together with my heartbeat. 

I vaguely heard their voices in the background and it helped a lot. I felt someone grabbing my hands and I opened my eyes again. Daryl looked at me as if he was waiting for me to speak and at the same time Maggie was rubbing my back. 

“What happened?” Maggie repeated.   
I looked at her for a second and then back to my lap. I shrugged and shook my head.   
“Nothing… I’m fine... it was just a bad dream I guess” I said calmly, my voice sounded a little weird to my ears, like it was not my own.   
“I think it was more than just a bad dream” she said in a calm manner.   
“Really guys, I’m okay” I said, looking at both of them with a fake small smile. 

“Kayleigh.. talk to us” Maggie said while she kept on rubbing my back. I looked at her.   
“It was just a bad dream.. I am fine now”   
“Bullshit!” both our heads shot towards Daryl.   
“If it was ‘just’ a dream, then why grab a knife?” he asked in his stern voice. 

“I..” I looked down at my lap again, not knowing how to answer his question, because I still didn’t know why I grabbed it in the first place.  
“I’m not sure..” I said hesitantly.   
“What do you mean?” Maggie asked.   
“I don’t know why I grabbed the knife…” my voice cracked at the end, my eyes burning once again.  
“I just don’t know” I said softy, my breathing turning shallow again.   
“Kayleigh?” I felt a squeeze and I looked up towards Daryl.   
“Talk..” he said pleading while one hand reached up to wipe away a tear I didn’t even realize fell. 

As I started talking about every horror I saw in my dreams, more tears started to stream down my face. Daryl had taken the spot on the other side of me while I spoke, still holding one of my hands. I felt broken and a little ashamed while telling all of it. Ashamed for exposing so much weakness in a cruel world like this. There was a silence after I finished talking about my dreams, which I broke after a few minutes admitting I needed help. 

Daryl moved back after kicking his shoes off of his feet and leaned against the wall the bed was against. He pulled me back as well and laid my head against his chest, my ear just above his heart. He stroked my hair after he placed a soft kiss on the top of my head.   
“I’m here for you... but you need to keep talking to me” he said softly and I nodded against his chest. I heard two things hit the floor and before I could see what it was I felt Maggie settling next to me.  
“We’re both here...” she said softly grabbing my hand. 

 

 

I looked towards the trees as the sun was rising, slowly brightening the area. For a prison this place had a magnificent view, if you ignored the walkers at the gates and fences. I stood in this exact place every morning, watching the sunrise. Quite some time had passed since the night Maggie and Daryl discovered that I was slipping away. I lost track of time to be honest and slowly everything around here had changed. New people had joined us and it felt good to have a sort of community in this world. The people that wanted to join had to answer three questions. How many walkers have you killed? How many people have you killed? Why? 

The council had decided that was a good way to test people, see if their answer raised any suspicion of their behavior. Yeah, there was a council now. Rick had put down his gun, deciding he was no longer capable to lead this place. The council was formed to make sure that all the needs of the now pretty big group was met as good as possible. To make decisions about our future, the trips that were worth making and everything that concerned our safety.

Hershel led the council that consisted of Daryl, Glenn, Carol and Sasha. I was asked for the council as well, but I refused not feeling in the right place of mind to be a part of big decisions regarding the whole group. I kept to myself mostly, needing to fight my own demons before I could do that for other people. I still did my part in and around the prison, but I haven’t been out of the fences since the accident. I sure as hell stayed away from cars, but even a one time offer from Daryl to ride with him felt like a task I wasn’t ready for. He understood and told me to take my time until I was fully ready to deal with the world out there.

Ian had been very distant with me lately and although Daryl didn’t seem to mind, it kind of hurt me. I could really use a friend like him right now. Thankfully, I had Daryl and Maggie to help me out; I talked to them every day about how I felt and how I was doing. Recently Rick had become my conversation partner as well, since he quit. We found comfort with each other, him dealing with laying down his gun and taking care of his family while he started farming and me with fighting my demons. 

I’ve been doing better lately, I’ve had fewer nightmares and if I had them they weren’t always that bad. There was still an occasion now and then that I couldn’t go back to sleep, but still, overall I did get some sleep. This night was a pretty bad one again, it usually happened when Daryl went on a run. Even though Maggie stayed with me on the nights he was gone, I still get really frightened when he leaves my sight. On the bright side, today would be the day he would return if everything went okay. I pulled the hoodie over my head and started with my morning run.

 

Covered in sweat I returned back to the prison, craving to take my hoodie off and cooling down a bit before a new day would officially start. Most people were just waking up, one of them was Rick who was just walking outside when I wanted to go in.   
“Someone is early once again” Rick said, looking a bit sleepy with a small smile on his face.   
“Can’t help it, the sunrise is too beautiful to miss” I said with little smile, but we both knew it had more to do with my bad sleep schedule then watching a good view. 

We had a short talk before we both went our own ways. I closed my eyes and unzipped my hoodie as I stepped into my cell.   
“There you are” I heard Maggie say while she was putting her shoes on.   
“Had a nice run?” she asked politely, but looking a bit frustrated with the fact that I didn’t wake her.   
“Yeah it was good, it would even be better with different shoes though,” I said pointing at my combat boots.   
“But with a bit of luck Daryl found something this time” I said before I walked over to my bag.   
“Maybe he can find something less warm” she said pointing out the hoodie I took off. 

“Yeah well, I wanted to show him that I do listen to his concerns and if that means covering up, it’s the least I can do. Although these shorts are still not growing” and we both shared a laugh.   
“Well, get that ass of yours clean. The boys should be back tonight and we have a lot to prepare for that,” she said getting up and throwing a towel at my head. I caught the towel just in time and looked a bit confused at her.   
“Prepare for what exactly?” I asked carefully, not really sure where she was going with this. 

“Well I still have something black and red involving lace hidden in my cellblock and it needs to go before Glenn gets the wrong idea and I have to disappoint him.” She said with a mischievous smile on her face.   
“So get your ass clean and meet me in my cell for the plan. Okay!?” She left before I could have the chance to answer. I shook my head, that woman was unbelievable sometimes.

I was drying my hair with the towel as I walked back into the cellblock, stretching my neck for a second with my eyes closed.   
“Kayleigh...” I opened my eyes and saw Ian standing in front of me, a bit nervous.   
“Hey, you haven’t lost you voice when it comes to me” I said trying to keep a straight face, but smiled after I saw the guilt on his face.  
“It’s okay, it’s not like I made a lot of efforts to talk to you lately” I said feeling a little guilty myself admitting this to him.   
“Look, can we talk? I really need to explain,” he said avoiding eye contact. 

Before I could say yes, I heard Maggie calling me and walking over.   
“Took you long enough, let’s go” she said as she grabbed my arm and started to drag me along. I quickly looked at her before looking at Ian again who stood there not knowing what to say.   
“We will! Soon, okay?” I said smiling and he nodded before Maggie and I left the block.  
“What did he want?” she asked while she let go of me.   
“Talk, an explanation. Before you rudely dragged me away” I said a little irritated.

“Well, it took him this long to wait to talk to you, he can wait another day” she said stern and I just sighed softly not wanting to argue with her about this. After we walked through the halls she stopped at a familiar room. I had followed Rick and Daryl here once, the day Merle died. We entered the room and I looked around, it hasn’t changed, mainly because we didn’t know what to do with it yet.  
“This is perfect” she said as she kneeled down next to the backpack she had dropped on the ground.   
“Real romantic” I said with as much sarcasm I had in me. 

“Well, it’s no Hilton hotel room, but it’s private.” she said, taking out the first things out of her backpack.   
“Plus both doors have locks” she said pointing towards the door we just passed through and the one leading outside. She threw something at me and I looked at it, recognizing the lingerie immediately. 

“Put that underneath your regular clothing, the shirt your wearing is wide enough to cover the extra fabric” she said smiling while she pulled other things out of her backpack.   
I sighed looking at the baby doll and thong before placing it on the floor next to the towel I dropped and I started to take of my shoes.   
“Have I told you that this is an idiotic plan? And the fact I absolutely HATE thongs? The way they ride up your butt all the time” I said grunting while still continuing undressing, fearing Maggie would do it for me.   
“It’s for a good cause,” she said standing up, taking blankets with her to the back of the room. I quickly replaced my own undergarments for the ‘sexy’ lingerie. 

I sighed when I had everything on and looked down. The scar on my leg bothered me immediately, I hated the memory that came with it, but I guess that’s what a garter could cover.   
“Oh yeah, I feel ridiculous” I said grabbing my jeans from the floor.   
“You look smoking!!” Maggie said as she came walking back. I glared at her before putting my clothes back on. She stood in front of me and stroked my hair. 

“Pull your hair in a high ponytail and show of every piece of skin and I guarantee success” she said grinning and I just shook my head.   
“Can we go back to work now? Or are there more things to do?” I begged, not wanting to think about this right now.  
“We’re done; I got impatient while you took your time showering. So everything is here already, all set up in the back” she said smiling and she threw arm around my shoulder. Together we walked out of the boiler room and back to the block to start with our chores.

 

 

I rubbed my neck while walking back towards my cell, dropping my ‘everything is alright’ mask as soon as I entered it. With the little sleep I got this night, it was exhausting to pretend that I was okay. Plus the fact that thong was really getting on my last nerves; I still don’t understand why I had to wear them already, why couldn’t I change last minute? I had a little time to myself before I had to help making dinner and I was regretting volunteering right now. I let myself drop onto the bed and I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before closing my eyes.

“I missed you at the gate” with those words I shot up and saw Daryl leaning against the cell door with a grin on his face. I pushed myself off of the bed and jumped towards him, he closed his arms around my waist and tight against his body. His face was buried in my neck before he sat me back on the ground and kissed me quickly. I took a step back and made a disgusted face.   
“What?” he asked a little confused.

“Have you smelled yourself?” I said trying to contain my laughter.   
“You reek dude!” I said biting my lip.  
“That’s not nice to say to someone baring gifts” he said taking his bag of his shoulder and threw it at me. I placed it on the bed after I caught it and took out its contents. I was a pair of black sneakers, a long black pair of sweatpants and a white long sports top. I turned around with a huge smile on my face.   
“You’re the best!” I yelled looking back at the gifts. 

“Well, come on, try them on. I know the shoes will fit, but the clothing was a big guess, since you never told me your sizes” he said taking a step closer. I starting to take of my plaid shirt, when I remembered what I was wearing underneath everything. I immediately stopped and grabbed the top, looking at the tag in it and I did the same thing with the sweatpants.   
“Looks good to me,” I said excited, before placing them in my bag. Daryl looked a bit confused at my actions and wanted to say something.  
“Why don’t you get yourself cleaned up and I’ll make sure you have a little extra at dinner” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before hurrying out of the cell. I didn’t want him to get a chance of him questioning my behavior. Tonight feels embarrassing enough as it is. Let alone him finding out early. 

I spotted Maggie and grabbed her by the arm dragging her somewhere more private.   
“Have I told you how much I hate you already?” she looked a bit puzzled.  
“What have I done this time?”   
“Well beside the fact that this thong is killing me, Daryl had brought me work-out clothing and wanted me to try it on, to make sure it fits. I forgot for a second that I look like a cheap porn star underneath this, so I acted like an idiot getting out of that cell” I whispered in an angry tone, making sure no one heard me. She burst out in laughter and I slapped her shoulder.   
“This isn’t funny!!”

“First of all, it is…especially seeing you act like this! Second of all... don’t worry about what you’re wearing... In a few hours you’ll be naked anyway” she said with a type of grin a high school boy would wear knowing he is about to get laid. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms in front of my chest.   
“You’re a weirdo you know that!” she just nodded and walked back towards Glenn. I shook my head, the rest of this day was going to be hell.

 

 

I was standing in the make shift outdoor kitchen with Carol and Karen preparing dinner for the whole group. The other two were making casual girl talk while I was in my own thoughts. I was really getting nervous about tonight, although I didn’t know why exactly. It wasn’t like it would be my first time, maybe with Daryl, but I knew what I was in for. Still the whole situation made me feel like I was a teenager again that was meeting her boyfriend knowing it was THE night. The fact that the lace of the baby doll was sticking against my skin thanks to the Atlanta heat and the fact that I was wearing a thong for the second time in my whole life and reminding me why I never wore them, wasn’t really helping either.   
“Earth to Kayleigh” I heard when someone was waving a hand in front of my face. I looked to my side and saw Karen smiling, with a little worry in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked cautiously and I nodded and faked my smile again.   
“Yeah, I’m just a bit tired that’s all, didn’t get much sleep last night.” And she nodded.   
“You must be relieved then that the boys are back,” Carol said turning her attention towards us and I nodded.   
“I really am” I saw the worry in Karen’s eyes disappear, she really was a lovely person to be around, so sweet and sincere.   
“Same here” she said and with those words we all returned to our work. A nice, comfortable silence surrounding us. 

“So Kayleigh…” Karen broke the silence after a while, when we were finished and starting to get ready to divide everything for everyone.   
“Carol told me the other day that you used to be a social worker correct?” she asked and I nodded not really sure where she was going with this.   
“So I was thinking, some of the children around here could really use some help considering what they’ve been through. Maybe you can help them with that a bit?” I nodded at her idea with a small smile.   
“I’ll think about it” I said with a smile, I didn’t want to dismiss her idea completely, but I wasn’t sure if I could do that right now. Even though I really wanted to.

 

I sat down at a table with Glenn, Maggie, Carol, Sasha, Karen and Tyreese. I left a seat next to me free for Daryl, with his plate already there. We all talked a bit, while we enjoyed our dinners.   
“Well look at that, somebody finally decided to show up” I heard Glenn say and I looked up and saw Daryl approaching us.   
“Yeah well, apparently I reeked” he said shooting me a glare and the rest of the table chuckled.   
“Well sorry for telling you that, but it was true!” I said batting my eyelashes, trying to look innocent, while he sat next to me.   
“She was right dude,” Glenn blurted out and the next glare from Daryl was aimed at him.   
“Damn right” Tyreese added, without looking up from his plate. Daryl looked a bit baffled around the table and I lost control of my laughter. 

I felt him nudging me in the side and I covered my mouth with my hand trying to contain it again.   
“I would like to know how you smell after crawling through the mud in this heat, to get you that piece of meat on your plate” he said a little irritated.   
“I would smell great!” I said sticking my nose up in the air, before taking the meat I had left on my plate and shoving it onto his. He shook his head and the small talk at the table continued as if nothing happened. 

After we all finished people around us where starting to clean up after themselves and we were about to do the same. I stood up and gathered all the plates and cutlery, when Maggie spoke.  
“So Kayleigh, could you help me with that thing?” for a split second I shot her a glare, for being this blunt. The rest of the table looked towards me.   
“Yeah sure” I said casually.   
“ What is going on with you two today? You’ve been sneaking around together all day,” Carol asked while she took the stack of plates out of my hands. I was a bit startled by her question and I looked at Maggie for a second, who had the same reaction.   
“Nothing” she said quickly before getting up.  
“We haven’t been sneaking around” I lied, knowing I was failing at being convincing and I felt the stares from the other people, especially Daryl and Glenn. 

“Shall we go now?” Maggie asked to avoid anyone asking any other questions.   
“Yep!” I agreed and we both walked away from the table and out of sight of everyone.  
“That was close” Maggie sighed and I slapped her shoulder again, just a little harder this time and she was rubbing her sore spot and looking at me confused.  
“Auw, what was that for?”   
“That was too close! Couldn’t you have thought of something better than ‘that thing?’ ” She just shrugged as I followed her inside the prison.   
“Besides I thought you already set everything up?” I asked confused. 

“Oh I did, but I thought it would be even better if you and Daryl didn’t see each other until later” she said grinning from ear to ear.   
“We’re not going to get married, you idiot” I said rolling my eyes.   
“I know, but it will make it that much more exciting. He just returned from a run and he barely saw you so by the end of the day he will be craving you!” I shook my head at her ridiculous theory and sighed. 

“Besides, I’m guessing you didn’t make a plan yet” she added and I stopped her and looked at her not knowing what she meant.  
“What kind of plan?”   
“You can’t just drag him towards that room, you have to lure him... you know, surprise him!” I rolled my eyes once again.   
“You’re having way too much fun with this.” I groaned while I let her drag me towards the boiler room. 

 

 

“Come on already! Before I have to wake him for this stupid plan” I softly ordered towards Maggie who was still in the boiler room.   
“I had some finishing touches to make okay!” she said before joining me in the hallway. I pulled my hair up and tight in a high ponytail like Maggie suggested this afternoon.   
“We were here way too long! I’m surprised they haven’t sent out a search party” I said slightly irritated.   
“Relax already, damn it girl, you really need to loosen up already” Maggie said wiggling her eyebrows and I rolled my eyes for the millionth time today. Now it was her time to slap my shoulder.   
“Stop rolling your eyes at me, you will thank me for all of this later… I guarantee.” she said proudly.

She linked her arm with mine and we walked back towards our cellblock. Like I thought, we were away for a pretty long time and everyone was back in their own cell already. Everyone except Glenn who was walking towards us.   
“There you guys are, where the hell have you been all night?” he asked softly, Maggie let go of my arm and grabbed his hand.   
“Nothing for you to worry about” she said smiling and started to drag him towards their cell.   
“Oh, by the way, Daryl already went to bed” Glenn whispered and pointed towards our cell and I just nodded.   
“Thanks for the info, good night” I said smiling and they answered saying good night in sync. The last thing I saw from Maggie was that mischievous grin before she entered her own cell. 

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes a second trying to remain calm and stick to the plan we had made. I walked towards our cell and saw Daryl laying on his back and thank god he was still awake. He looked up towards me, with a small smile.   
“There you are,” he said before patting the empty space next to him inviting me to join him.   
“We might have a problem, we need to talk…” I whispered and I looked over my shoulder. Daryl looked alerted and he sat up straight and opened his mouth.   
“Not here…” I said and I gestured that people could be listening and he just nodded and put his shoes before grabbing his knife from the night stand and followed me. 

“What’s going on?” he asked as he followed me through the dimly lit hallways. I shushed him, trying to keep up this act and truth be told, I didn’t know what lie to tell him right now. The walk towards the boiler room felt longer than before and I felt my hands started to tremble. All the teenage nervousness from this afternoon came back and it was worse. I kept walking in front of Daryl, afraid that if he saw my face I couldn’t stop blushing. 

We arrived at our destination and I walked in first. I looked over my shoulder towards Daryl who looked very confused at the moment.   
“Make sure no one followed us okay? I’m gonna check the room” I said and walked towards the back.   
“Are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on?” I heard the slight irritation in his voice, while I stopped walking and looked in awe at the little spot Maggie had prepared. Apparently she had lit some candles that she scattered around the blankets and pillows she had laid down on the floor.   
“Sneaky little bitch” I murmured and I shook my head at the effort she had put in to this. 

“What?” I heard Daryl ask and I was pulled back in reality.   
“Nothing, room is clear. Anyone followed us?” I asked as I rapidly started to undress and shoved away all the clothing before putting the garter over my scar.   
“No, why would anyone at this time?” I heard the man ask started to sound more irritated by the second.   
“Good, now lock the door” I said while making my first steps and the feeling of the cold concrete send chills all over my nervous body. 

He had his back turned towards me and I felt my whole body tremble when I saw he was turning towards me.   
“Are you gonna..” the words stopped and so did his body when he saw me. I felt my face getting bright red and I bit my lip softly.   
“explain…” softly left his lips as his eyes were scanning every inch of my body, I started to fumble with the hem of the baby doll for a second. 

We just stood there for a moment, neither of us knowing what to say. A voice, creepy enough sounding a lot like Maggie’s, popped in my head saying I had to stop being such a chicken and regain myself. I placed one hand on my hip and tilted my head slightly.  
“Is it locked?” I asked softly and he just nodded, his mouth still hanging open. A seductive smile formed on my face and I slowly walked towards him. I reached both of my hands towards his and slowly let them trace their way towards his shoulders. 

I was following my hands with my eyes before I looked at his face. I stood on my toes a little and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. I moved towards his ear, my lips never leaving his skin.  
“Good” I whispered softly before pushing the leather cut of his shoulder. I took a step back and I kind of enjoyed the way he just stood there not knowing what to do or say. I gestured him with just one finger, for him to follow me, before I slowly turned around and made my way to the back of the room where everything was set up. 

Within seconds I heard the sound of his shoes following me and I felt relieved. I guess a little part of me wasn’t sure he would want this too.   
“So this is what you’ve been sneaking around for” I heard him chuckle, and I looked over my shoulder.  
“Maybe...” I said grinning, before turning towards him again and closing the distance between us. I placed one hand on his chest as his hands reached for me, one ending on my hip and the other in my neck. He leaned down and our lips met for a soft and a little cautious kiss. 

He pulled back and looked me in the eyes for a moment and I was trying to read his expression. Was he just as nervous about this as me?   
“You sure?” I heard him ask, barely audible as he looked away, like he was afraid to see my reaction. I moved my hand towards his neck and he looked back at me.  
“Do you really need to ask?” I said with a little giggle before pulling him back into the kiss, ensuring him that I was sure about this. 

 

//  
Slowly the kiss intensified and so did his grip on me. My other arm found its way around his neck as his hand left mine. In no time he had lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He pinned me against one of the boilers and I gasped feeling the cold metal against my bare skin and through the thin fabric of the lingerie. Chills again going through my whole body that were intensified by his nails digging in my skin. Slowly he let more of his dominating side shine through and I was drawn back to the time in the woods.

One of my hands found their way to his hair and the other slit down towards his chest. I started to unbutton his shirt slowly and I tightened my grip on his hair as well. He placed more pressure on my thighs while pushing his body harder against mine. I was clearly waking something up inside of him and I grinned a little into the kiss. I was a bit curious how much more it would take to make him loose control. 

I slowly grinded my hips against him and he bit my lower lip. I continued my movements and I was sure that if he dug his nails deeper into my skin he would draw blood. A low growl came out of his mouth before he attacked my neck. The passion he poured in to this knocked the air right out of my lungs as his kisses turned into biting. 

Suddenly he moved away from the boiler and had one hand on my lower back to keep me in place while the other supported his body while he sat down on the blankets. With both my hands on his chest I pushed him down. I looked at him for a second before kissing him, while my hands pushed his shirt open. His hands were exploring my back as mine were exploring his chest. My hands went lower dragging my nails into his skin until I reached his jeans.

I undid his buckle and jeans before I pushed myself up. I looked at him and his fingers were tracing circles on my hips. I slowly took of the baby doll, watching him watching my every move. Even though I felt a little exposed right now, it felt so right. One of his hands found its way towards my neck never leaving my skin and he pulled me back down where our lips met again. In one swift move he flipped us making sure my head was on one of the pillows. 

He sat up a bit and took off his shirt while he kicked off his shoes and in a split second his jeans were off too. Leaving him in nothing but his boxers and it was one hell of a view of him kneeling in front of me. I felt his fingertips softly brushing the skin of my thighs that were next to him. His eyes were locked with mine as he lifted my right leg from the ground. His mouth reached my skin placing kissed until he reached the garter, he took the fabric in between his teeth and took it off. The way his stumble touched my skin in the slow pace he did ignited a burning sensation in my lower abdomen. The need of him on top of me and inside me grew even more with his lust filled eyes never leaving mine. 

I wrapped my legs around his waist and pushed my body off the ground flinging my arms around his neck. He supported his weight behind him with one arm due to my sudden movements, the other arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me as close as he could against him. Our lips connected again, wilder then before. I took a hold of his hair again while I let the other hand slide towards his back. I tilted his head slightly after breaking the kiss. As I dragged my nails down his spine, my lips attacked his neck. His body stiffened for a second and felt his nails digging in my own skin. 

I kissed my way back to his lips as I tightened my grip on his hair. My free hand was roaming his skin until it was in between us and I went lower. I softly brushed my fingers up and down him through the thin fabric of his underwear and he gasped in my mouth. I could feel he was more than ready for this and it send a wave of lust through my whole body. I stopped at the hem of his boxers and he broke the kiss. He gazed into my eyes, awaiting my next move. With a swift move my hand went inside and I took a hold of him. 

A soft moan left his lips as I started moving and he buried his face in my neck. His shallow breathing against my delicate skin send chills up and down my spine. We stayed like this for a few moments. The longer it lasted, the more sounds escaped his mouth and it turned me on even more then I already was. His fingers were going up and down my spine, applying more pressure each drag. 

Suddenly I felt the blanket underneath me and Daryl was hovering me. He pinned my arms down above my head and grinded his hips against me. A soft moan escaped my lips and his went for my neck. He kept my wrists together with one hand while his other hand went down to explore every inch of my skin leaving nothing untouched. The pressure and slight pain of his weight on top my body only added to the pleasure of his touch. 

His hand slid underneath the fabric of the thong and I bucked my hips giving him a better access. I felt him grinning against my neck at my actions. A moan loader then expected left my mouth as I felt two fingers enter me. He quickly picked up the pace and my head spun leaving me almost breathless. I leaned my head against his as I completely surrendered myself to him, getting closer to the edge with each movement he made.  
“I need you.. now” I moaned in his ear and I felt his body shudder against mine. 

He pushed himself up and within seconds he had removed the last pieces of fabric off our bodies. He was once again hovering above me, I could feel his length less than an inch away from me. He was looking at me like he was waiting for something.  
“Please” I managed to say and both our breath got caught in our throats as he entered with a swift movement. He guided both my hands next to my head and our fingers intertwined while he pushed them down.

In an agonizing slow pace he started to move and rested his head next to mine, stealing a kiss every now and then. He kept this pace for a while and I was starting to get greedy. I wrapped my legs around him and grinded my hips against his thrusts, encouraging him to move faster. He got the hint I gave him and picked up his pace. All kinds of noises left our lips as our bodies moved in sync. 

One of his hands left mine and traveled down my body. He started rubbing the most sensitive spot on my body and my back arched as the loudest moan so far left my mouth. My head was spinning out of control and I felt it getting lighter with every movement he made. His thrust were going faster and harder with every second and a sudden bite in my neck send me over the edge. I cried out his name in the wave of ecstasy and pleasure, which send him over the edge not long after.

He collapsed next to me still holding one of my hands. We were both on our back heavily panting and I was slowly coming down from the high. This was nothing like I’ve ever experienced before, never had it felt this damn good.   
//

 

After a moment of us just lying there naked and finally catching our breath, he pulled me closer. I was on my side curled up against him. I laid my head down on his sweaty chest and I felt him covering us with one of the blankets. He held my hand that was resting on his chest and the other was playing with my hair. Even though we were laying on a concrete floor on top of just a blanket, I was so comfortable right now. The last thing a felt was a soft kiss on the top of my head before I dozed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys!! 
> 
> First of all, I am really sorry that it took me this long to post a new chapter! I had to overcome a major writersblock, but here it is!! On the bright side, this is the longest chapter so far!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! Please be easy on me, this is the first time I have written smut like this.  
> I'll try my best to update sooner this time!


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